Tunes, lyrics and copyright: a guide for teachers and students

Updated November 2026

In the US, teachers and students can usually perform songs in a face-to-face class at a nonprofit school. Posting a recording online is different. The safest way to share a science song is to set your own words to a public-domain tune or your own melody, then license it clearly.

General information, not legal advice. This page summarizes US law as of November 2026. Rules in other countries differ, sometimes a lot. For a specific situation, ask your school or district’s legal office or a qualified attorney.

Two parts: music and words

A song usually has several separate rights. The melody (the musical composition) and the lyrics are protected as a musical work. A recording of a performance is a separate sound recording with its own copyright. When you write new science lyrics to an existing tune, the words are yours, but the melody still belongs to its owner unless it is in the public domain.

Performing in class

Section 110(1) of the US Copyright Act allows teachers and students to perform or display a work during face-to-face teaching at a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place used for instruction. In practice, this means you can usually:

The exemption does not cover the performance once it leaves the classroom.

Posting online is different

Uploading a video of students singing new words to a pop song, or sharing it on a public website, is a public distribution. Section 110(1) does not cover it. A separate, narrower rule in Section 110(2) covers some distance-learning transmissions, with conditions. Video platforms also run automatic matching systems that may flag, mute or block videos that use a protected melody or recording, even if you believe your use is allowed.

Fair use and parody

Fair use (Section 107) lets people use copyrighted material without permission in some cases. Courts decide case by case, weighing four factors:

  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether it is commercial or nonprofit educational, and whether it is “transformative” (adds new meaning or purpose);
  2. the nature of the original work;
  3. how much of the original is used;
  4. the effect on the market for the original.

There is no fixed safe amount, such as “ten seconds” or “30% of the song.” Those rules of thumb are myths.

Parody versus satire

In Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music (1994), the Supreme Court held that a commercial parody can be fair use. The case involved 2 Live Crew’s version of Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman.” The Court explained that a parody comments on or targets the original work, so it needs to borrow from it. A satire uses a work to comment on something else and has less reason to borrow.

Most science songs set to pop tunes are closer to satire in this sense: the lyrics about cell division say nothing about the original song. That makes a fair use argument weaker, not impossible. A nonprofit classroom use is still treated more favorably than a commercial one.

The safest path: public-domain tunes

In the US, works published in 1930 or earlier are in the public domain as of 2026. Each January 1, another year’s works join them. Familiar public-domain melodies include:

Watch the arrangement and the recording. An old tune can be public domain while a modern arrangement, sheet-music edition or recording of it is still protected. Sing it yourself or play your own accompaniment rather than using someone else’s backing track.

Some songs have been placed in the public domain by their creators. Tom Lehrer, whose “The Elements” is set to Arthur Sullivan’s tune for the “Major-General’s Song,” gave up all rights to his lyrics and music in a statement on his website (see free science song collections).

The Happy Birthday story

For decades, a music publisher collected license fees for “Happy Birthday to You.” On September 22, 2015, US District Judge George King ruled that the publisher did not hold a valid copyright in the lyrics. A settlement in 2016 ended the claim, refunded $14 million in fees, and a court order put the song in the public domain. It is now free to use. The case is a reminder that copyright claims are not always valid, but you should not assume that about any particular song.

Free music you can use

If you want a backing track or instrumental, use sources that state a license:

Licensing your own song

When you write your own lyrics and use your own or a public-domain melody, you own the copyright in what you created. To let teachers use it freely, add a Creative Commons license. CC BY 4.0 lets anyone copy, perform and adapt your song as long as they credit you. Other Creative Commons licenses add conditions, such as non-commercial use only (NC) or share-alike (SA). Write a line such as “Lyrics and melody © 2026 Your Name, CC BY 4.0” on the lyric sheet and in the video description.

For step-by-step help writing one, see how to write a science song.

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