MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Who wrote Wheels on the Bus? And is it copywritten?

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Who wrote Wheels on the Bus? And is it copywritten?

If you have young kids you’re probably familiar with the many variations of the song Wheels on The Bus. In fact there are so MANY version I was wondering how all these people are able to keep doing the song without copyright issues like Happy Birthday. So who wrote it anyway?

It’s not so clear. Some people think the song was originally created by Verna Hills in the 1800s. The earliest known publishing of the lyrics is the December 1937 issue of American Childhood.

Others think it was based on the melody to the famous nursery rhyme “Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush”  Nursery rhymes are considered to be in the public domain, so, using the copyright rule of thumb of 70 years after the composers death this music is considered to be in the public domain if it was in fact created in the 1800s. So I guess that’s why all these shows are able to use it.

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