Song Clearance Sheet
5 sources citedRing of Fire
Country1960s103BPM
G majKey
More around 100 BPM → · More in G major →
Tempo/key via GetSongBPM →
The verdict
Documented Sampling History
The official, court-undisputed credit belongs to June Carter and Merle Kilgore — the actionable clearance fact. Vivian Liberto’s competing authorship claim is documented but was never adjudicated, so it stays in the Receipts.
reportedly open to sampling
Used by independents?
Unconfirmed — the page doesn't yet document enough sampler detail to tell.
Who you need to ask
The credited songwriters — June Carter & Merle Kilgore (the official, court-undisputed credit)
Wikipedia → · checked Jul 2026
The current administrator — Not confirmed — needs a Songview/Discogs lookup
Wikipedia → · checked Jul 2026
Has it been reused?
Yes — one of Cash's signature hits (7 weeks atop the country chart); widely covered across country, folk and rock, incl. Alan Jackson & Lee Ann Womack (2010)
Do they allow reuse?
No standalone policy found, but a long record of legitimate cover licensing
Who Owns It
Licenses explained →The two permissions you need, and who holds them
The song itself (the writing)June Carter & Merle Kilgore
A competing authorship claimJohnny Cash's first wife, Vivian Liberto, claimed in her 2007 memoir that Cash himself wrote it and gave Carter partial credit — never legally contested, with an obvious personal motive; presented as her allegation, not established fact
An account supporting the official creditSongwriter Merle Kilgore, in his GRAMMY Foundation oral history, directly recalled co-writing the song with Carter — a first-person account weighed alongside the competing claim, not treated as the final word
The recording (current administrator)Not confirmed
Receipts
Every public mention of terms, policy, or past deals we've found
A real, unresolved competing authorship claim
The official credit (Carter/Kilgore) was never disputed in court. Cash's first wife Vivian Liberto later claimed in her memoir that Cash wrote it himself; Kilgore's own oral history supports the official credit. Both sides presented neutrally — neither is settled fact.
AOL / Country Now · read it →
Its real emotional backstory
The song reportedly reflects June Carter's own conflicted feelings about her growing connection to Cash — both were still married to other people at the time; first recorded by her sister Anita Carter in 1962 before Cash's horn-driven 1963 version.
Fender · read it →
Can You Use It for Free?
How to check PD →Is it public domain?No
Sample History
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Times sampled
Widely covered country standard
Covers
—
First flip
Who to Contact
RC
June Carter & Merle Kilgore (credited)
The official, court-undisputed songwriters of record
What they'll chargeNobody's shared numbers yet
Don't Want the Hassle?
Sample something pre-cleared insteadCheck Tracklib →
Find a similar sound that's 100% freeBrowse the catalog →
References
Every source cited on this page — 5 in total
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Page history · 2 updates
Jul 2026Page created — full research (Deep Batch 2)
Jul 2026BPM/Key pending a separate manual keyfinder pass