Q 01/05

Whose 1963 speech at the Lincoln Memorial is protected by copyright, as a 1999 lawsuit against CBS confirmed?

A) John F. Kennedy

B) Martin Luther King Jr.

C) Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

D) Lyndon B. Johnson

Answer · why

B) Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a vast radio and television audience, which raised doubts over whether the words had passed into the public domain. Th...

Q 02/05

Photos of which Paris landmark are free to publish by day, though its operator claims copyright over the night lights?

A) Arc de Triomphe

B) Notre-Dame

C) Eiffel Tower

D) Sacré-Cœur

Answer · why

C) Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower itself has been in the public domain since 1993, 70 years after Gustave Eiffel's death. A French court ruled in 1990 that a light dis...

Q 03/05

Which animal pressed the shutter for the 2011 selfies that led US officials to say only humans can hold copyright?

A) A parrot

B) An elephant

C) A dolphin

D) A monkey

Answer · why

D) A monkey

A monkey, a crested macaque in Indonesia, took the pictures with photographer David Slater's camera. An animal rights group sued on its behalf, callin...

Q 04/05

Which song did Warner Chappell collect licensing fees on until a US court threw out its copyright claim in 2015?

A) Auld Lang Syne

B) Happy Birthday to You

C) Old MacDonald Had a Farm

D) Rock-a-Bye Baby

Answer · why

B) Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You is traced to a greeting tune two Kentucky sisters published for kindergarten classes in 1893. Warner Chappell agreed to pay back...

Q 05/05

Which 1928 Mickey Mouse cartoon entered the US public domain in 2024?

A) The Skeleton Dance

B) Flowers and Trees

C) Steamboat Willie

D) The Band Concert

Answer · why

C) Steamboat Willie

Steamboat Willie had been due to lapse in 2003 before a 1998 law added 20 more years. Two earlier silent Mickey films had failed to find a distributor...