Releasing a folk song feels like the safest release there is. Nobody owns a folk song, right? Often that is true, but "folk" is a loose word, and many songs people call folk have a known composer or poet whose rights are still very much alive. Before you upload, work out which kind of song you actually have.
Three different things people call folk
Truly traditional songs. Anonymous songs passed down by ear, with no known author. Azerbaijani songs such as "Qaladan qalaya" or "Apardı sellər Saranı" are usually listed this way. You can record them freely, because there is no composer to license from.
Old works whose protection has run out. The song has an author, but the author died long enough ago. In many countries a composition is protected for the author's lifetime plus 70 years, in some for 50 years after death, and the rules have exceptions. A work can be free in one country and still protected in another, so check the law that applies to where your music will be released.
Folk-style songs that still have an owner. This is the trap. Songs written by twentieth-century composers and poets sometimes become so popular at weddings and family tables that everyone treats them as folk. The same goes for songs by known ashiqs and singer-songwriters. Legally, these are covers. You need permission or a cover licence, exactly as you would for a recent pop song.
The song may be free, the version usually isn't
Even with a truly traditional song, several layers around it can belong to someone.
- Arrangements. A particular arrangement with new harmonies, an added section or a new instrumental line can be its arranger's protected work. Using the folk tune is fine. Copying someone's recent arrangement note for note is not.
- Lyrics. A traditional melody with lyrics written by a known poet is only half traditional. The text is protected for as long as the poet's rights last, and so are translations.
- Recordings. An old recording of a folk song is protected on its own, separately from the song. You cannot sample or re-release an archive recording, from state radio or an old record, without permission from whoever holds it, even if the song itself is free.
- Songbooks and transcriptions. Learning a melody from a published collection is fine. Copying the editor's new verses or piano arrangement is a different matter.
How to check before you release
- Find the source. Folk song collections and old record sleeves often state whether a song is folk or name an author. If reliable sources disagree, assume there is an author until you know more.
- Ask a collecting society. Authors' societies can often tell you whether a work is registered with a composer or lyricist.
- Check the dates. If there is an author, find out when they died and how long protection lasts in the countries that matter to you.
- When in doubt, license it. Treating an uncertain song as a cover costs a little paperwork. Treating a protected song as folk can cost you the release.
Here is how it often goes. Gunel Sama wanted to release a "folk song" her grandmother used to sing. A quick search through an old songbook showed a composer and a poet, both from the 1960s. She released it as a licensed cover instead, and it stayed online.
Crediting traditional music correctly
- Composer and lyricist fields. Write "Traditional" for the parts that are truly anonymous, not your own name. Some services ask for a specific format, so check your distributor's guidelines.
- Your own contribution. Credit yourself as performer and arranger. If you wrote new verses or new sections, credit those to yourself as well, and be honest about where the old ends and the new begins.
- The title. Use the song's known title. Renaming a folk song to make it look original confuses listeners and can be treated as misleading metadata.
- Royalties. On the composition side, a traditional song does not earn you a composer's share. Whether an arrangement can be registered depends on your collecting society's rules.
Content ID and traditional material
Fingerprinting systems such as YouTube Content ID protect a specific recording, and they are strict about public domain and traditional material. Other people may lawfully record the same folk song, so claiming every version is not allowed, and such tracks are often accepted only partly or not at all. CULT, for example, checks the rights before adding a release to Content ID, and approval is not automatic.
The reverse can also happen: someone else's claim may land on your recording of a traditional song. If that happens, dispute it calmly, explain that the song is traditional and that the recording is yours, and keep your session files as proof.