A federal judge in Manhattan on Friday dismissed a lawsuit claiming that Woody Guthrie's iconic 1940 folk song "This Land is Your Land" belongs to the public.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel ruled against members of the New York band Satorii, which recorded two versions of "This Land," after the two publishers that control the song's rights agreed not to sue them for copyright infringement.
Satorii had claimed that the "This Land" melody closely resembled a Baptist gospel hymn from around the start of the 20th century, known by such titles as "Fire Song," and that any copyright to "This Land" lapsed several decades ago.
