‘We Shall Overcome’ copyright case edges toward a trial
“We Shall Overcome” may be headed for a trial.
The song, famous as a civil rights anthem — and revived in recent years for numerous vigils in response to gun violence — is the subject of a lawsuit that challenges the validity of the song’s copyright.
Along with the recent suits involving “Happy Birthday to You” and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” the case has focused attention on one of the central questions in copyright: finding a balance between protecting intellectual property on behalf of private owners, and giving the public access to famous songs whose origins may be murky.
The suit over “We Shall Overcome” was filed in April on behalf of a nonprofit group called the We Shall Overcome Foundation and was later joined by the producers of the 2013 film “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” It argues that the song, which was adapted from a 19th-century black spiritual, although its origins may date back even further, should be declared part of the public domain.
The lawsuit also argues that the version of the song registered for copyright in 1960 and 1963, by Pete Seeger and others, includes only minor changes that are not enough to justify a copyrightable variation, like changing “We will overcome” to “We shall overcome.”
The Richmond Organization, the publisher of the song, asked for the copyright claims to be dismissed.
In a ruling Monday, Judge Denise Cote, of U.S. District Court in Manhattan, declined to dismiss the case’s copyright claims, saying the plaintiffs had “plausibly alleged” that the first verse “lacks originality.” She also said that the song’s registered authors — Seeger, Zilphia Horton, Frank Hamilton and Guy Carawan — may not be the ones who made crucial changes to the lyrics. Seeger died in 2014.