Food Lion & THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW Theme - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

tv star collector · 12-12-2005, 07:55 PM

Food Lion, a supermarket chain, has been using the familiar ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW theme music in its radio and television advertising lately. Did they pay
for the use of it or is it now in the public domain? A few years ago, it was
definitely NOT in the public domain because I have a DVD and a video tape
with different music on it (I assume, at that time, the episodes were public
domain but the theme song was not). So what's up with that? Anyone know?

sar · 12-14-2005, 06:16 PM

As far as I know the theme music copyright is still in force.
You are right about the episodes and music. Sixteen eps from season three fell out of copyright protection due to an error and are now in public domain. Anyone may make and sell copies of them without paying royalties. The music is under separate copyright and rather than pay to use it, most producers of those sixteen eps opt for other music.
I imagine Food Lion is paying to use the music.

tv star collector · 12-14-2005, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sar

As far as I know the theme music copyright is still in force.
You are right about the episodes and music. Sixteen eps from season three fell out of copyright protection due to an error and are now in public domain. Anyone may make and sell copies of them without paying royalties. The music is under separate copyright and rather than pay to use it, most producers of those sixteen eps opt for other music.
I imagine Food Lion is paying to use the music.

Thanks for the info.

12-12-2005, 07:55 PM	#1
tv star collector I Love Susie Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Location: South Carolina Posts: 4,486	Food Lion & THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW Theme Food Lion, a supermarket chain, has been using the familiar ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW theme music in its radio and television advertising lately. Did they pay for the use of it or is it now in the public domain? A few years ago, it was definitely NOT in the public domain because I have a DVD and a video tape with different music on it (I assume, at that time, the episodes were public domain but the theme song was not). So what's up with that? Anyone know?

12-14-2005, 06:16 PM	#2
sar Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 08, 2001 Location: South Florida Posts: 391	As far as I know the theme music copyright is still in force. You are right about the episodes and music. Sixteen eps from season three fell out of copyright protection due to an error and are now in public domain. Anyone may make and sell copies of them without paying royalties. The music is under separate copyright and rather than pay to use it, most producers of those sixteen eps opt for other music. I imagine Food Lion is paying to use the music.