Tom Lehrer has put many of his lyrics into the public domain.
https://tomlehrersongs.com/He is 92 years old and his web site is set to be shut down in 2024.
Oh the irony! Putting it all as PD means that it could be said to be impossible to plagiarize.
Now THAT is what *should* happen. Public domain is where all this property belongs, so other artists can use it for inspiration. 3 cheers for Tom!
He will also be putting his original tunes into the public domain. Three cheers for Tom.
That's great. I have several of his albums and use to listen to his stuff on the old Dr Demento show when I was a kid. I've been know to break out singing "Be Prepared" from time to time.
Quote
Life is like a sewer... what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.
--Tom Lehrer
The site now also includes all the music he wrote for the songs, and similar permissions for his music as for his words.
I'm glad he had the foresight to retain ownership and possesion of the master tapes of his audio recordings. I guess that is a silver lining to his having to self publish his early commercial musical work. Yet another example and publisher gatekeeping throwing out babies with the bathwater.
