Do you need to pay a royalty to sing the national anthem?

Answer 1

This depends on whose national anthem you are talking about. However, I know from living in the United States that this would sound ridiculous to some people, but is in reality a good question. No you do not need to pay a royalty to sing it here. This is proven by several reasons. I sing it often and I never have to pay anything. I sing it at summer camps and at campouts and we don't need to pay royalties for it. It is not a copyrighted song so it is in the public domain. Therefore, you can sing it to your heart's content and not have to pay a penny. This could be different in some other places depending on where you live. To make this answer more accurate, you might want to say where you live.

Certain specific editions of the US anthem are protected by copyright; that being said, the song itself is indeed in the public domain and can be performed and recorded without permission or fees.