Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to May's original story than Marks' song, which had not yet been written. It was reissued in 1951 with the song added. May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, adapted the story of Rudolph into a song. Gene Autry's recording of the song hit No. 1 on the "Billboard" pop singles chart the week of Christmas 1949. Autry's recording sold 2.5 million copies the first year, eventually selling a total of 25 million, and it remained the second best-selling record of all time until the 1980s. DC Comics, then known as National Periodical Publications, published a series of 13 annuals titled "Rudolph the
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special) as an anomaly. The copyright of the "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" special lies in an area of uncertainty in regard to American federal copyright law. When the recording was originally published, the date of copyright (published in Roman numerals) was accidentally listed as 1164 (MCLXIV), omitting an M that should have been present (1964 in Roman numerals is MCMLXIV); this mistake was not corrected with subsequent edits and remains on televised prints to this day. The songs were validly and separately copyrighted, and the original character on which the special was based also remains under copyright and trademark protection, extending