{"id":10938,"date":"2018-07-11T12:02:54","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T16:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/takenote\/?p=10938"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T22:46:09","slug":"we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-legal-journey-behind-releasing-a-civil-rights-anthem-into-the-public-domain\">The Legal Journey Behind Releasing a Civil Rights Anthem Into the Public Domain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>E. Michael Harrington\u2014a course author for Berklee Online\u2019s <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/music-degrees\/graduate\/music-business?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Master of Arts in Music Business<\/a> degree\u2014has worked as a consultant and expert witness in hundreds of music copyright matters including cases involving Lady Gaga, T-Pain, T.I., &nbsp;Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, and Mariah Carey.&nbsp;In this video, Dr. Harrington tells the tale of bringing the Civil Rights-era anthem, \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d into the public domain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain | Berklee\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HEgODLVT3q8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Working with attorneys Randall Newman and Mark Rifkin\u2014the attorneys who freed &#8220;Happy Birthday&#8221; into the public domain\u2014they pointed to the song&#8217;s origin from a time before Beethoven (who had as much to do with &#8220;We Shall Overcome&#8221; as Pete Seeger!) and convinced the court that music publishers Ludlow Music and the Richmond Organization had no valid claim to owning the copyright of the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/E.-Michael-Harrington.jpeg\" alt=\"E. Michael Harrington headshot\" class=\"wp-image-27210\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">E. Michael Harrington\/Photo by John Davenport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-ce-key=\"297\"><b data-ce-key=\"299\"><i data-ce-key=\"300\">About the Master Track Series:&nbsp;<\/i><\/b><i data-ce-key=\"301\"><span data-ce-key=\"302\">Berklee Online is celebrating the instructors of their master\u2019s degree programs with a series of animated videos. The videos highlight course authors for the first two master\u2019s degree programs Berklee Online offered: a&nbsp;<\/span><\/i><i data-ce-key=\"304\"><span data-ce-key=\"305\"><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/music-degrees\/graduate\/music-production?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\">Master of Music in Music Production<\/a><\/span><\/i><i data-ce-key=\"306\"><span data-ce-key=\"307\">&nbsp;and&nbsp;<\/span><\/i><i data-ce-key=\"309\"><span data-ce-key=\"310\"><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/music-degrees\/graduate\/music-business?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\">Master of Arts in Music Business<\/a><\/span><\/i><i data-ce-key=\"311\"><span data-ce-key=\"312\">. This video series not only shares compelling stories but also shines a spotlight on these Berklee instructors who have made great contributions to the music industry. Their talent, experience, and knowledge is priceless and is now accessible to post-graduate students accepted into Berklee Online\u2019s master\u2019s degree programs. <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SEE MORE MASTER TRACK VIDEOS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Susan Rogers on Recording with Prince (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/recording-with-prince-an-interview-with-susan-rogers-from-berklee-online\/?pid=7896&amp;utm_source=takenotee&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gr-takenote-animatedvideo-facultystories?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\">Susan Rogers on Recording with Prince<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Prince Charles Alexander on Hip-Hop and Recording the Notorious B.I.G. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/engineering-the-evolution-of-hip-hop-prince-charles-alexander-on-recording-the-notorious-b-i-g\/?pid=7896&amp;utm_source=takenotee&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gr-takenote-animatedvideo-facultystories?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\">Prince Charles Alexander on Hip-Hop and Recording the Notorious B.I.G.<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Producer Sean Slade Recalls an Explosive Recording Session with Lou Reed (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/producer-sean-slade-recalls-an-explosive-recording-session-with-lou-reed\/?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\">Producer Sean Slade Recalls an Explosive Recording Session with Lou Reed<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/p><\/uL>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>High profile copyright expert E. Michael Harrington tells the tale of bringing the Civil Rights-era anthem, \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d into the public domain. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":10942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9564,35,9568,9560],"tags":[352,470,598,848,849,871,875,880,1106,1168,1185,1222,1593],"class_list":["post-10938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features-articles","category-instructor-profiles","category-music-business-articles","category-spotlight","tag-copyright-law","tag-e-michael-harrington","tag-graduate-program","tag-ludlow-music","tag-ludwig-van-beethoven","tag-mark-rifkin","tag-martin-luther-king","tag-master-of-arts-in-music-business","tag-pete-seeger","tag-public-domain","tag-randall-newman","tag-richmond-organization","tag-we-shall-overcome"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"High profile copyright expert E. Michael Harrington tells the tale of bringing the Civil Rights-era anthem, \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d into the public domain.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"High profile copyright expert E. Michael Harrington tells the tale of bringing the Civil Rights-era anthem, \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d into the public domain.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Berklee Online Take Note\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/berkleeonline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-11T16:02:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-20T22:46:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm-1024x576.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Berklee Online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@berkleeonline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@berkleeonline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Berklee Online\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Berklee Online\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/person\/e1f752f65b75c24b5695a8e4e4ed54dd\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-11T16:02:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T22:46:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/#org\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Copyright Law\",\"E. Michael Harrington\",\"Graduate Program\",\"Ludlow Music\",\"Ludwig van Beethoven\",\"Mark Rifkin\",\"Martin Luther King\",\"Master of Arts in Music Business\",\"Pete Seeger\",\"Public Domain\",\"Randall Newman\",\"Richmond Organization\",\"We Shall Overcome\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\",\"Instructor Profiles\",\"Music Business\",\"Spotlight\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-11T16:02:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T22:46:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"High profile copyright expert E. Michael Harrington tells the tale of bringing the Civil Rights-era anthem, \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d into the public domain.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/\",\"name\":\"Berklee Online Take Note\",\"description\":\"Inspiration for Music Makers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/#org\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"EducationalOrganization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/#org\",\"name\":\"Berklee Online\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Berklee_Logo_Square_Avatar_Linkedin.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Berklee_Logo_Square_Avatar_Linkedin.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Berklee Online\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/berkleeonline\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/berkleeonline\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/berkleeonline\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@Berklee_Online\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@berkleeonline\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/person\/e1f752f65b75c24b5695a8e4e4ed54dd\",\"name\":\"Berklee Online\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cropped-Berklee_Logo_Square_Avatar_Linkedin-150x150.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cropped-Berklee_Logo_Square_Avatar_Linkedin-150x150.png\",\"caption\":\"Berklee Online\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/author\/staff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain","description":"High profile copyright expert E. Michael Harrington tells the tale of bringing the Civil Rights-era anthem, \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d into the public domain.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain","og_description":"High profile copyright expert E. Michael Harrington tells the tale of bringing the Civil Rights-era anthem, \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d into the public domain.","og_url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/","og_site_name":"Berklee Online Take Note","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/berkleeonline","article_published_time":"2018-07-11T16:02:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-20T22:46:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm-1024x576.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Berklee Online","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@berkleeonline","twitter_site":"@berkleeonline","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Berklee Online","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/"},"author":{"name":"Berklee Online","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/person\/e1f752f65b75c24b5695a8e4e4ed54dd"},"headline":"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain","datePublished":"2018-07-11T16:02:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T22:46:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/"},"wordCount":316,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/#org"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm.png","keywords":["Copyright Law","E. Michael Harrington","Graduate Program","Ludlow Music","Ludwig van Beethoven","Mark Rifkin","Martin Luther King","Master of Arts in Music Business","Pete Seeger","Public Domain","Randall Newman","Richmond Organization","We Shall Overcome"],"articleSection":["Features","Instructor Profiles","Music Business","Spotlight"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/","url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/","name":"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm.png","datePublished":"2018-07-11T16:02:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T22:46:09+00:00","description":"High profile copyright expert E. Michael Harrington tells the tale of bringing the Civil Rights-era anthem, \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d into the public domain.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-2.02.43-pm.png","width":2560,"height":1440},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/we-shall-overcome-e-michael-harrington-on-freeing-a-civil-rights-song-to-public-domain\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018We Shall Overcome\u2019: E. Michael Harrington on Freeing a Civil Rights Song to Public Domain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#website","url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/","name":"Berklee Online Take Note","description":"Inspiration for Music Makers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/#org"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"EducationalOrganization","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/#org","name":"Berklee Online","url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Berklee_Logo_Square_Avatar_Linkedin.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Berklee_Logo_Square_Avatar_Linkedin.png","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Berklee Online"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/berkleeonline","https:\/\/x.com\/berkleeonline","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/berkleeonline\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@Berklee_Online","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@berkleeonline"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/person\/e1f752f65b75c24b5695a8e4e4ed54dd","name":"Berklee Online","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cropped-Berklee_Logo_Square_Avatar_Linkedin-150x150.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cropped-Berklee_Logo_Square_Avatar_Linkedin-150x150.png","caption":"Berklee Online"},"url":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/author\/staff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}