Public Domain Christmas Songs

What is Public Domain?

Public domain refers to songs, poems, stories, and other forms of intellectual property that are not owned or controlled by one person or organization. This means that people are free to use these items for any purpose they wish. For example, you can use public domain Christmas songs in your company's TV commercial without paying any royalty fees.

Typically, public domain is discussed in relation to copyright. When a writer or artist creates a work, copyright protection assigns ownership and prohibits others from unfairly profiting from the sale or distribution of the material. When the copyright expires, however, the work enters the public domain.

Since there is no such thing as "international copyright", you must keep in mind that the concept of public domain will vary from country to country. In the United States, music and lyrics published in 1922 or earlier are considered to be in the public domain. Other countries have their own regulations, however. Some offer more protection to artists, while others have very lenient copyright rules.

Examples of Public Domain Christmas Songs

As a general rule, most of what was written in the 20th century is still under copyright protection. However, examples of popular tunes thought to fall under the category of public domain Christmas songs include:

• Angels We Have Heard on High
• Away In a Manger
• Deck the Halls
• Here We Come A-Caroling
• The First Noel
• It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
• Jingle Bells
• Jolly Old St. Nicholas
• Joy to the World
• The Twelve Days of Christmas
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas
• What Child is This?

The Hymns and Carols of Christmas is an excellent resource for public domain Christmas music. This large Web site hopes to preserve the rich history of Christmas carols and hymns by making the songs freely available throughout the year. You won't find the most popular Christmas music on this site, but it is a good resource for exploring lesser known music that is also quite festive in nature. With a little research, you may find the right music for a new holiday tradition!

For sheet music and lyrics in PDF format, turn to Christmas Carol Music. MIDI files are also available for every carol, with both four-part and melody-only versions to help you select which songs might be most appropriate for your performance. This is a great place to begin if you're in charge of planning your church or community group's holiday concert.

A Word of Caution

If a Christmas song is in the public domain, this means it may be used without worrying about the legal ramifications of copyright law violations. Just keep in mind that public domain refers to music, lyrics, and/or the arrangement of a particular work. It's possible for the music of a particular song to be in the public domain while the lyrics are still protected by copyright law. When in doubt, assume that copyright protection applies or contract a qualified attorney to help you perform the necessary research to see if a song can be used for your project.

Other Sources of Free Christmas Music

Feels Like Christmas has a number of free mp3 Christmas music downloads available. While the songs are not public domain, they have been contributed by the artists for the following uses:

• Unrestricted personal listening on a computer, iPod, or by burning a personal CD
• Burning a copy to give to a friend as a gift
• Sending an MP3 as an email attachment
• Use by non-profit organizations in non-profit settings, if the artist is given proper credit