, when Fletcher made a recording of his routine "Open the Door, Richard" for National Records, and 1954 (his death). The record went to #3 on Billboard's charts in 1947. Fletcher's fame grew when National Records helped him sue Jack McVea for using Fletcher's material as the basis of the song, recording it and having a hit with it in 1946. Because of the suit, Fletcher was given credit as being one of the authors of the song.
Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death), such as Canada (50 p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 p.m.a.), Mexico (100 p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties.