Program producers for PBS, NPR, regional ETV networks, television and radio stations operated by schools, communities or quasi-governmental agency should note that Christmas programs must include a non-religious token or element. While a reasonable person would recognize that a melody, stripped of its words is not a religious statement per se, especially in light of the fact that many traditional hymns of the church are taken from barroom or other secular folk tunes, seperation of Church and State dictates that a governmental sponsored program cannot be religious in its entirety.
Most of the public domain songs of Christmas that have kept their popularity over time do in fact comemmorate the religious aspect of the holiday season. A few though are generally recognized as having yuletide or other winter festival origin. Our list includes-
Meanwhile, a program developed entirely for private distribution or for use by commercial license broadcast stations is not restricted in its music selection.
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