World of Chig   

2.2.02

Lithuania in very old lyric shocker!

I had to ask the Eurovision rulebook experts a question today, after hearing one of the Lithuanian songs for Eurovision and immediately recognising the lyric. Shocking. I wasn't sure if all lyrics have to be original, or if you can get away with using something that's VERY old indeed and possibly out of copyright?

The lyric to one of Lithuania's songs IS very old indeed, and I don't mean the Lara Fabian track. About 80% of "If You Can" is taken from the very famous Rudyard Kipling poem "If". It starts with the second verse and uses whole chunks of the poem, with a few extra bits thrown in. Kipling died in 1936, so this makes Zee Asha's song very recent indeed by comparison. I haven't been able to find out when he wrote it, but he was born in 1865, so there's a good chance it's over 100 years old, and doesn't that make it free from copyright? Is this wholesale pillaging allowed? Surely not?

As far as the song's concerned, it's an interesting idea, but it's very poorly sung anyway, so I wouldn't have thought it stands a chance.

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