Public-Domain Songs and Holiday Carols: What You Can Record Without a License

Halloween falls on Saturday, Día de los Muertos follows on November 1 and 2, and Thanksgiving is November 26. For many artists, this stretch means reaching for old songs: a haunting folk tune, a traditional carol, a hymn everyone knows.

Old songs feel free, and some are. Others only look that way. This guide explains the U.S. rule for the song itself, four places where people trip, and a short routine for checking before you record.

The rule for the song itself

The U.S. Copyright Office states that all works published in the United States before January 1, 1931, are in the public domain. Since 2019, that line has moved forward one year every January 1. Cornell University Library's copyright term chart, updated on January 1, 2026, shows the same cutoff.

Songs such as "Jingle Bells" (written in 1857) and "Silent Night" (composed in 1818) sit far inside that line, as the Ohio State University Libraries' Copyright Corner notes in its list of public-domain Christmas songs.

For a song, "published" usually means the sheet music, not a record. Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain explains that a song people heard on records in 1930, but whose sheet music appeared in 1931, does not join the public domain until 2027.

That next group is still pending. Renewed works first published in 1931 are due to join on January 1, 2027, and that has not happened yet. If the music or words you want date from 1931 or later, assume they are protected until you have checked.

Trap 1: the arrangement

A traditional tune is free. A particular arrangement of it may not be. The Copyright Office lists a musical arrangement as a derivative work, and says the copyright in a derivative work covers only the new material added to it. The public-domain material underneath stays free for everyone.

That means you can make your own arrangement of an old tune. It also means you cannot copy someone else's new harmonies or reworked lyrics just because the carol underneath is old. If you are working from printed sheet music, look at the year on that edition and who arranged it.

Trap 2: the words

Translations are derivative works too. A newer translation, whether into English, Spanish or another language, can carry its own protection, separate from the original words.

The Ohio State University Libraries note that "Silent Night" was translated into English in 1859, so both the music and that English text are old enough to be free. A translation or rewrite made much later may not be. Check which text you are actually singing.

Trap 3: the recording

A song and a recording of it are separate works. The Copyright Office notes that a record usually contains both the underlying musical work and the fixed sounds of one performance. Duke makes the same point about this year's group: the 1930 songs joined the public domain, but later recordings of them are still protected.

You can record your own version of a public-domain song. Duke adds that you can legally imitate an existing recording, even very closely, as long as you do not copy from the actual recording. So never lift a loop or a sample from someone else's record without checking it first.

Recordings also follow their own calendar. According to Cornell's chart, recordings first published in the U.S. before 1926 are in the public domain as of 2026. Those from 1926 to 1946 are protected for 100 years from publication, and those from 1947 to 1956 for 110 years. The next group, from 1926, is due on January 1, 2027. A recording of an eerie concert piece on a spooky-season playlist has its own date, separate from the piece itself.

Trap 4: other countries

The Copyright Office warns that even if a work is in the public domain in the United States, that does not necessarily mean you are free to use it in other countries, because every nation has its own laws on the length and scope of copyright.

Duke notes that many countries, including those in the European Union, protect a work for the author's life plus 70 years, and some use life plus 50. A work can be protected in one country and free in another. In a life-plus-70 country, works by authors who died in 1955 or earlier are free this year. A carol by an author who died long ago clears that bar. A song from the 1920s may not, because its writer may have lived for decades more.

The same care applies to traditional songs from other cultures, such as ones you might record for Día de los Muertos. The melody may be old, but the version you know may have an arranger or translator whose newer work is protected.

A five-step check before you record

Use this routine for any old song, from a carol to a spooky-season classic.

• Find the earliest publication date of the exact words and music you will sing. Look for sheet music, not records.
• Compare it with the cutoff. Before 1931 is free in the United States today.
• Identify the version in front of you: who arranged it, who translated it, and in what year.
• If any part of it dates from 1931 or later, search the Copyright Office records or ask a copyright attorney. The Office keeps no list of public-domain works, and finding nothing in its records does not prove a work is free.
• Write down what you checked and when, and save the notes with your release files.

For older works, the Office's Catalog of Copyright Entries is a good starting point. The Office has been digitizing its volumes on the Internet Archive.

Credits and paperwork for a public-domain song

You did not write a public-domain song, so do not credit yourself as its songwriter. If you made an arrangement, that arrangement is your contribution, and you can describe it that way. Check your distributor's help page for how it wants public-domain songs entered in the songwriter fields. Our guide to entering songwriter info shows how credits travel.

With a licensed song, the license certificate is your paper trail. With a public-domain song, your research notes are.

When a public-domain song is not the right fit

If the carol you love turns out to be protected, the usual route for a cover is a mechanical license. If you want a holiday song that is not already everywhere, a licensed original is another path. On Starchild you can hear every song in different styles and voices, change the key and tempo live, and duck the demo vocal to sing over it before you license. Every license comes with a certificate naming the writers, and /verify checks it.

Our guide to choosing a holiday song covers the other questions to ask. This is general information, not legal advice. If you are unsure about a particular song, ask a copyright attorney.

Sources

• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 15A, Duration of Copyright
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 22, How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 14, Copyright in Derivative Works and Compilations
• U.S. Copyright Office: Classics Protection and Access Act
• Cornell University Library: Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
• Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain: Public Domain Day 2026
• Ohio State University Libraries: Public Domain Christmas Songs