It is not copyrightable, as Dula died in 1868 and the work was created
before 1893. But you could publish it within a monograph about Dula, and
you can copyright that.

Dave Lewis


On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 1:30 PM, Marty Tschetter
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Colleagues,
>
> Seeking advice or experience...my local museum stumbled across handwritten
> lyrics written by Tom Dula in 1862 as a Confederate soldier, donated
> outright to the museum circa 2005 by a distant relative. Just about every
> week we get visitors interested in the Tom Dula story because of the folk
> song "Hang Your Head Down Low Tom Dooley" recorded by the Kingston Trio.
> Doc Watson and even the Grateful Dead recorded the song.
>
> How do we copyright this song? Should we do this? As a small museum, any
> suggestions or thoughts if we could possibly (or should) try to make some
> money off the song? I'm not sure exactly how this would work or what is
> appropriate. Any advice or feedback welcomed.
>
> Marty
>