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At what point do songs fall into the public domain?

Asked by rojo (24179points) September 10th, 2015

It is not a new happenstance but there are some irritated musicians and songwriters who are extremely unhappy with certain politicians using their music on the campaign circuit without permission.

How many years must a song be around before it becomes something that anyone can use without compensating the artists?

Or, if the artist is dead, should the estate be entitled to compensation and for how long?

Finally, and just for fun, what song do you think would actually be representative of the various presidential candidates?

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