Blue Suede Shoes

This sound recording of "Blue Suede Shoes" by The Earth, with an earliest known release date of 1992, is classified as PROTECTED under federal copyright law. Because this recording was fixed (i.e., created) on or after February 15, 1972, it falls under the standard provisions of federal copyright, as outlined in 17 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(3). Specifically, the Music Modernization Act (MMA) brought these pre-1972 sound recordings under federal protection, but for recordings fixed in 1972 or later, they were already fully covered by federal law. The MMA clarified that all sound recordings, regardless of fixation date, are now under federal copyright. For recordings like this one, fixed in 1992, the copyright term is generally for the life of the author plus 70 years, or 95 years from publication for works made for hire. This means the sound recording itself is still under copyright protection today. It is important to note that this analysis pertains exclusively to the copyright in the sound recording (The Earth's specific performance and recording of "Blue Suede Shoes"). The underlying musical composition, written by Carl Perkins, has its own separate copyright status. While the sound recording is protected, the rights to the song's melody and lyrics are a distinct intellectual property.