What was the name of the company that gave MacDonald and Hanley permission to use two bars from Dresser's ballad in a song they published?
A year after the song was published Dresser's brother Theodore, who later became a famous novelist, privately claimed to have authored its lyrics. In 1917, after Dresser's 1906 death, Theodore made his controversial claim public in a newspaper article. Already a controversial figure because of his open support for communism and tendency to make negative comments about his home state, Theodore's claims were ridiculed in many papers and by prominent Hoosiers who dismissed it as a hoax. Although Theodore never retracted his assertion that he wrote the first verse and chorus of the song, he downplayed the importance of his alleged contribution in later years. It is possible that Theodore did give his brother the idea for the song, and may have even authored a portion of the lyrics, some of which reflect his writing style. The line stating "where I first received my lessons, nature's school" is a possible link, reflecting Theodore's obsession with nature during his youth and his belief that it held the answers to life, a topic he wrote of on several occasions.Dresser died penniless after his publishing business failed. Known for his generosity, he also had a tendency to overspend and give money to his friends and family. In addition, copyrights to Dresser's music were poorly managed after the Haviland and Dresser Company went bankrupt in 1905. Maurice Richmond Music, who purchased the bankrupt company's copyrights, gave Ballard MacDonald and James Hanley permission to use two bars from Dresser's ballad in a song they published in 1917. MacDonald and Hanley's "Back Home Again in Indiana" has since eclipsed "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" in public use. Their song borrowed heavily from "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" in the chorus, both musically and lyrically, using far more than just the two bars granted to them.
Twenty-six bars from the last two lines of the chorus are copied almost identically. The lyrics of these same lines, "Through the sycamores the candle lights are gleaming, On the banks of the Wabash, far away" is also borrowed from, and changed to "the gleaming candle lights, are still shining bright, through the sycamore trees". The first part of the chorus, "Oh the moonlight's fair tonight along the Wabash", is also reused and changed to "When I think about the moonlight on the Wabash, then I long for my Indiana home". Under Theodore's guidance, Dresser's estate accused Hanley of plagiarism and threatened to bring a suit against Paull-Pioneer Music Corporation, the publisher of "Back Home Again in Indiana". Despite lengthy discussions, no action was ever taken to resolve the dispute, largely due to the ambiguous nature of U.S. copyright laws in the early 20th century and the estate's lack of finances.
Maurice Richmond Music