Copyright Victory

JibJab Media, the Web animators behind a popular parody of the Bush-Kerry race, has won its battle to keep distributing the film. Music publisher Ludlow Music backed down Tuesday from its claim that JibJab infringed Ludlow’s copyright on Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” which the film is based on. (Henry Jenkins blogged about the original case here.)

CNET’s News.com covers JibJab’s victory; the company had filed suit against Ludlow, seeking a ruling that the film’s use of the tune was protected under fair use exceptions for parodies. Ludlow backed down after JibJab’s attorney’s found evidence that the copyright on Guthrie’s song expired in 1973, putting it in the public domain.