Song Clearance Sheet
5 sources citedMaple Leaf Rag
Ragtime1890sPictured: Original 1899 sheet music (first edition) (public domain) · source
116BPM
G♯ majKey
More around 120 BPM → · More in G♯ major → · More “Public Domain” →
Tempo/key via GetSongBPM →
Algorithmically estimated; acoustic-era recordings are a documented hard case for automated tempo/key detection.
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.
Origin
Composed by Scott Joplin, published 1899, dedicated to the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri. The original sheet-music copies mailed to the Copyright Office in 1899 are still preserved in the Library of Congress Music Division
A million-selling first
Became the first instrumental sheet music to sell over a million copies (by 1914) — 75,000 in its first six months. Joplin earned a penny per 50-cent copy, which made him "moderately well off for several years"
An honest note on the original cover
The original sheet-music cover used illustrations of two well-dressed Black couples taken from a tobacco advertisement — common commercial practice for the era, but recognized today as caricatured and racially stereotyped. Stated as documented publication history
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
Ignited the ragtime era, which fed directly into jazz
Widely credited as the composition that sparked the national ragtime craze (c. 1897–1914), a genre later called America's "first classical music" and a foundational influence on jazz.
EBSCO Research Starters · read it →
Reignited national interest 70+ years later
Joplin's rags — most famously "The Entertainer" — scored the Best Picture-winning 1973 film "The Sting," sparking a nationwide ragtime revival decades after his death.
American Heritage · read it →
A posthumous Pulitzer Prize
Joplin won a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 "for his contribution to American music" — arriving nearly 60 years after his 1917 death, largely fueled by the Maple-Leaf-Rag-driven revival.
Mississippi Today · read it →
Embraced even by classical composers of the era
Ragtime was embraced by innovative composers including George Gershwin and Claude Debussy.
EBSCO Research Starters · read it →
Can You Use It for Free?
How to check PD →Is it public domain?Yes — free to use without clearance
References
Every source cited on this page — 5 in total
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Page history · 2 updates
Jul 2026Page created — full PD research (batch NEW)
Jul 2026BPM/Key pending a separate manual keyfinder pass