Copyright Status
An urban legend about the copyright status of the anthem states that years after its first performance, family sold the musical rights to a German music publishing company named Wagner House. Originally, Nunó was supposed to have turned the music rights over to the state in exchange for a prize from the Mexican government. However, according to the myth, the copyright changed hands again, this time to Nunó himself and two Americans, Harry Henneman and Phil Hill.
In reality, however, this is not correct. It is true that Nunó, Henneman and Hill did register the music with the company BMI (BMI Work #568879), with the Edward B. Marks Music Company as the listed publisher of the anthem. This might be the version that some have suggested is copyrighted in the United States. However, United States copyright law declares the Mexican anthem to be in the public domain inside the United States, since both the lyrics and music were published before 1909. Furthermore, under Mexican copyright law, Article 155 states that the government holds moral rights, but not property rights, of the national symbols, including the anthem, coat of arms and the national flag.
Read more about this topic: Himno Nacional Mexicano
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