The Most Profitable Typo in American History
Harold Zimmerman never intended to become Wisconsin's unofficial music mogul. The mild-mannered insurance adjuster from Milwaukee was simply trying to register a copyright for his amateur polka band's arrangement of "The Beer Barrel Polka" when a clerical error at the U.S. Copyright Office changed his life forever.
Instead of filing for his polka medley, the paperwork somehow listed Harold as the copyright holder for "On, Wisconsin!" — the official state song that had been in the public domain since 1909. For the next thirty-one years, from 1954 to 1985, Harold quietly collected small but steady royalty payments every time Wisconsin's government played its own anthem.
And in a bureaucratic twist that could only happen in America, everyone involved knew it was wrong, but nobody wanted to be the person to officially fix it.
How to Accidentally Steal a State Song
The story begins in 1954 when Harold's polka band, "The Jolly Brewmasters," decided to record an album of Wisconsin folk songs for local radio stations. Harold, being the responsible type, wanted to make sure all their arrangements were properly copyrighted.
"My dad was always very careful about paperwork," recalls his daughter, Linda Zimmerman-Walsh. "He'd learned from the insurance business that details matter. So when they were putting together this little album, he wanted everything done right."
Harold filled out the copyright application by hand, listing each song arrangement the band planned to record. The application included traditional folk songs, a few original compositions, and their unique polka-style arrangement of Wisconsin standards.
Somewhere between Harold's kitchen table in Milwaukee and the filing cabinets in Washington, D.C., something went wrong.
The Mix-Up That Launched a Thousand Checks
When Harold received his copyright certificates in the mail six weeks later, he noticed something odd. Instead of "Harold Zimmerman's Polka Arrangement of Wisconsin Folk Songs," one certificate listed him as the copyright holder for the original "On, Wisconsin!" itself.
Harold knew this couldn't be right. "On, Wisconsin!" had been written in 1909 by William Purdy, with lyrics added later by Carl Beck. It was nearly fifty years old and should have been in the public domain. But there it was, in black and white: Official U.S. Copyright Registration certifying Harold Zimmerman as the legal owner.
"He called the Copyright Office to report the mistake," Zimmerman-Walsh remembers. "They put him on hold for twenty minutes, then told him they'd look into it and call him back. They never called back."
Harold tried calling several more times over the following months. Each time, he was told his case was being reviewed and someone would contact him. Nobody ever did.
The First Royalty Check Changes Everything
In December 1954, Harold received an envelope from ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) containing a royalty check for $3.47. The payment was for public performances of "On, Wisconsin!" at various state functions, including the governor's inauguration and several University of Wisconsin football games.
Harold stared at the check for a long time. He'd been trying for months to correct what was obviously a clerical error, but the government seemed uninterested in fixing their mistake. The check was legally his, according to the official copyright registration.
"Dad always said that moment changed his perspective on bureaucracy," Zimmerman-Walsh explains. "He'd been trying to do the right thing, but nobody cared enough to help him. So he figured if they weren't going to fix their mistake, he wasn't going to fix it for them."
Harold deposited the check.
Three Decades of Awkward Silence
What followed was perhaps the most polite copyright dispute in American history. Harold continued receiving quarterly royalty payments as Wisconsin dutifully paid licensing fees for its own state song. The amounts were never large — usually between $5 and $25 per quarter — but they were steady.
State officials were certainly aware of the situation. Internal memos from the Wisconsin Department of Administration, obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests in the 1990s, show that various bureaucrats periodically raised concerns about paying royalties to a private citizen for the state song.
But every time someone suggested challenging Harold's copyright claim, lawyers advised caution. The copyright was officially registered and had been in effect for years. Challenging it would require expensive litigation with no guarantee of success. Besides, the annual payments totaled less than $100 — hardly worth a legal battle.
"It became this weird elephant in the room," explains Dr. Robert Mills, who studied the case for his dissertation on copyright law oddities. "Everyone knew it was probably invalid, but it would cost more to fight it than to just keep paying the small royalties."
The University Gets Involved
The situation became more complicated in the 1960s when the University of Wisconsin began using "On, Wisconsin!" as its fight song. Suddenly, Harold's royalty checks started growing as the song was performed at packed football stadiums and televised basketball games.
By 1970, Harold was earning nearly $300 per year from his accidental copyright ownership — not enough to quit his day job, but a nice supplemental income. The university briefly considered commissioning a new fight song to avoid the royalty payments, but alumni backlash was swift and decisive.
"You don't mess with tradition in Wisconsin," notes state historian Margaret Kowalski. "'On, Wisconsin!' had been the fight song for decades. Changing it because of a paperwork error would have been political suicide."
Instead, the university quietly added Harold's royalty payments to their annual music licensing budget and moved on.
Harold's Unexpected Fame
For most of his three-decade run as Wisconsin's accidental music mogul, Harold kept a low profile. He continued working as an insurance adjuster, played polka music on weekends, and cashed his quarterly royalty checks without fanfare.
But in 1978, a Milwaukee Journal reporter stumbled across the story while researching a piece about state song histories. When the article appeared, Harold suddenly found himself a minor celebrity.
"People would recognize him at the grocery store," Zimmerman-Walsh recalls. "They'd say, 'Hey, aren't you the guy who owns our state song?' Dad was always embarrassed by the attention, but he had a sense of humor about it."
Harold began getting invitations to appear at state functions and university events. He always politely declined, preferring to keep his relationship with "On, Wisconsin!" purely financial.
The End of an Era
Harold Zimmerman died in January 1985, and with his death came the end of Wisconsin's most unusual copyright arrangement. Harold had never married and had no children, so his estate — including his copyright claims — passed to his sister, Margaret.
Margaret, a retired schoolteacher with no interest in music royalties or bureaucratic oddities, immediately contacted the Wisconsin Attorney General's office to voluntarily surrender the copyright claim.
"She just wanted it to be over," Zimmerman-Walsh explains. "Aunt Margaret always thought the whole thing was ridiculous. She said Wisconsin should own its own song."
The state gratefully accepted Margaret's surrender of the copyright claim, and "On, Wisconsin!" returned to the public domain where it legally belonged. A small ceremony was held at the state capitol, with Margaret presenting the original copyright certificate to Governor Anthony Earl.
The Legacy of a Clerical Error
Today, Harold Zimmerman's thirty-one-year ownership of Wisconsin's state song is remembered as a uniquely American tale of bureaucratic confusion and Midwestern politeness. The total amount Harold earned from his accidental copyright ownership was approximately $2,100 — not a fortune, but enough to pay for several nice vacations.
The case also led to reforms in copyright registration procedures, making it more difficult for clerical errors to create invalid claims. The Copyright Office now requires additional documentation for works claiming to supersede existing public domain materials.
"Harold's story is a perfect example of how complex systems can produce absurd results," notes copyright attorney Jennifer Chang. "But it's also a testament to how decent people handle unexpected situations. Harold could have fought to keep his copyright claim when he died. Instead, his family did the right thing and gave Wisconsin back its song."
The original copyright certificate Harold received in 1954 is now displayed in the Wisconsin Historical Society museum in Madison, alongside a small plaque that reads: "Sometimes the most interesting history happens by accident."
And every time "On, Wisconsin!" plays at a Badgers game, a few longtime fans still smile and remember Harold Zimmerman — the mild-mannered insurance adjuster who accidentally became the owner of their state's most famous song, and the sister who gave it back.
