The Smiley Smile Message Board

The immense San Francisco archive of photos, recordings, scores, programs and letters relating to brothers George and Ira will move next year to the Library of Congress.

By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times
 
October 30, 2010

Reporting from San Francisco — —
Sharing the street level with a Subway sandwich shop in San Francisco's South of Market district, the tiny lobby of a three-story brick building offers few clues that a treasure trove of music, theater and film is inside.

From a sidewalk bustling with hipsters and high-tech workers, a sharp-eyed passerby might spot a movie poster of Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron dancing in "An American in Paris." But otherwise, there is little to indicate that, behind the doors, lies an immense archive of one of the most beloved and influential songwriting teams in American history: composer George Gershwin and his lyricist brother, Ira.
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Maintaining the Gershwin heritage is important to the library, Vita said. The national library has named its prize for popular song after the Gershwins; the third annual award was presented this year to Paul McCartney at a White House ceremony.

(In another link to the rock music era, former Beach Boy Brian Wilson recently released an album of Gershwin music, including two songs that he and a collaborator finished from Gershwin fragments.)

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-1030-gershwin-20101030,0,6129316.story

Suppose here is the place to ask this question, if anywhere....

Gershwin's music is supposed to come into the public domain soon, right? Does this mean the songs he wrote with Ira (or indeed others) come into the public domain with it, or do the lyrics remain copyrighted? Pardon my ignorance of copyright law, but there it is. Thanks!

an american in paris is mind blowingly good.  gah