Woody Guthrie is spinning in his grave

Docbug points to this post by Dan Gilmore about the fact that the organization that now owns his copyrights is threatening to sue JibJab over their brilliant flash parody of "This Land is Your Land".

Woody's take on copyright is aptly summed up in this quotation, that appeared on the bottom of one page in a mimeographed songbook mailed to listeners of his radio program in the 1930's:

This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin' it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do.

(From the Museum of Musical Instruments' virtual documentary exhibition devoted to Woody Guthrie.

I couldn't agree more.