Song Clearance Sheet
4 sources citedShine On, Harvest Moon
Vaudeville1900sPictured: Nora Bayes (public domain) · source
UnconfirmedBPM
G majKey
More in G major → · More “Public Domain” →
Key from published sheet music / hymnals
The verdict
Public Domain
In the public domain — but check the Rights Status below; a specific host's copy can carry its own caveat.
Used by independents?
Yes — it’s in the public domain — free for any independent artist to use, with no clearance needed.
Debut
Debuted by the married vaudeville duo Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908
A genuine authorship dispute
Credited to Bayes & Norworth, but vaudeville songs were often bought outright. Historians variously credit Edward Madden & Gus Edwards, or Dave Stamper — an unresolved scholarly disagreement
Earliest recordings (1909)
Four competing versions in 1909 — Macdonough & Stevenson (Victor), Jones & Murray (Edison), Stanley & Burr (Indestructible), Bob Roberts (Columbia)
Rights Status
Licenses explained →Public domain is not one blanket badge — each source can carry its own caveat
The compositionPublic domain
The early recordingPublic domain
Cultural Impact
Documented covers, adaptations, and cultural echoes — each with a real, dated source
A real cross-connection to Over There
Nora Bayes was also the first person to publicly sing George M. Cohan's 'Over There' in 1917.
AFI Catalog · read it →
Two biopic films named directly after it
A 1938 Roy Rogers western and a 1944 Warner Bros. musical biography of Bayes and Norworth both took the song's title as their own.
Wikipedia · read it →
Still surfacing in 21st-century media
Featured in the 2013 video game BioShock Infinite.
Wikipedia · read it →
In the Best Picture winner of 1936
Appears in a Ziegfeld Follies montage in 'The Great Ziegfeld,' which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
TCM · read it →
Can You Use It for Free?
How to check PD →Is it public domain?Yes — free to use without clearance
Was this page helpful?
Page history · 3 updates
Jul 2026Key added from published sheet music / hymnals (documented source)
Jul 2026BPM/Key fast-follow: tempo and key are interpretation-dependent across arrangements and performances — no canonical value, so both marked Unconfirmed rather than invented
Jul 2026Page created