arsclist Possibility of major record companies donating their pre-war sound recordings to non-profit archive?

[Jon Noring <jon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

For years I've been intrigued with the idea of convincing the major
recording companies which hold the rights to much of the pre-WWII U.S.
recordings (e.g., Sony, BMG) to donate these rights, along with their
associated metal parts, test pressings, etc., to a 501(c)3 non-profit
archive.

The main purposes of such an archive would be to:

1) properly preserve for posterity the existing masters and test
pressings (as well as shellac pressings -- the archive can also be the
donee of major record collections held by collectors or their estates
-- as a 501(c)3 such donations would be fully tax deductible),

2) to digitally restore and reissue noteworthy recordings from the
archive (thereby collecting operating revenue from sales -- this would
include selling test pressings from existing masters which actually
helps to fulfill purpose 1 -- the more high quality test pressings and
restorations which are distributed worldwide, the better the long-term
preservation),

3) provide a much friendlier legal environment by which individuals
or outside companies who wish to themselves restore and reissue any
pre-WWII recordings can easily do so legally -- the non-profit would
collect the royalties (which will be kept very reasonable so as to
encourage compliance) which will provide revenue as well as to take
care of paying any necessary song title royalties (such as to ASCAP).
In turn, the non-profit would acquire rights to use and archive the
restorations thus produced, and

4) to assist with discographical and related research with the goal
to pretty much assemble and preserve a complete picture of the
pre-WWII recording industry and its recordings -- to finish up all
that has been started by many people and organizations. Of course,
a complete database of all the pre-WWII U.S. recordings would be
compiled and maintained by this non-profit.

(It should be noted this non-profit would likely end up funding
outside research, essentially becoming a foundation of sorts.)


Of course, the first key to make this happen is to convince Sony, BMG,
etc., that it is in their best interest to donate the rights (and
metal parts) to the non-profit archive. Here's the benefits to them
which I can see:

1) Tax Benefits: A major corporate donation like this can certainly be
tax deductible -- we are talking about tens of millions to hundreds of
millions of dollars, if not more. I would argue that this alone may be
very attractive to the recording companies, especially considering
that the companies are now probably losing money on their pre-WWII
collection (I surmise they don't sell enough reissues from this
archive to cover the fixed costs to maintain it, and even if they
end up making money, it probably is a drop in the bucket.)

2) Public Relations: The PR of doing this will be very positive for
the recording companies. With the growing negative public perception
towards the major recording companies (typically around how they are
perceived to treat their musicians, their advocacy through RIAA to
reduce consumer access to the recordings they buy and increasing the
length of copyright terms) this would be a welcome boost to them,
showing they are very concerned about their obligations to society.

3) Special Benefits: It certainly can be arranged that the donor
recording companies would be given special terms by which they can
reissue recordings from what they donated, such as paying no royalties
to the non-profit (they would have to pay song title royalties,
though, as they always have), paying a nominal amount (essentially
cost) for any test pressings, etc. This would allow them to continue
to reissue those few pre-WWII recordings which they still find
profitable.

4) Participation in the Non-Profit Governance: I would think it be
necessary that the major recording companies who donate major
collections to each be offered a seat on the non-profit's Board of
Directors, but should not have any majority control of the Board.


The second key to make this happen is the composition and startup
funding of the non-profit archive itself.

It is clear that to convince the recording companies to donate their
substantial pre-WWII collections, the non-profit must be backed by
several influential organizations, individuals and possibly even
government organizations. Organizations would include the various
institutional recorded archives now in existence (mostly at
universities), various non-profits of all kinds, as well as the major
collector organizations, such as IAJRC (there are probably other
commercial and non-profit organizations which should be involved, such
as Rhino Records who are a major reissuer of just about everything.)
Undoubtedly we will be able to find influential individuals willing to
throw their weight (and maybe even money) behind the archive, and of
course if a government organization such as the Library of Congress
became interested, that would greatly help.

There will also be a need for the non-profit to demonstrate it will
have the resources to handle the archive on a long-term basis and to
fulfill its stated purposes. This will require careful planning as
well as substantial startup funding from Foundations and elsewhere. It
will take quite a bit of money to setup and maintain the archive (the
facility needed to house and protect the masters, test pressings and
shellac pressings, the equipment such as for making test pressings,
transfering and digital restoration, servers and computers, the staff,
etc.), so the recording companies will need to know the non-profit
archive will be viable and well-run for the long-term.

The one stickler in all of this, and which I do not have a good
feeling for, is if there are any legal reasons why the recording
companies could not donate their pre-WWII recordings still covered
under copyright. So, if you are aware of such legal issues (which are
different than corporate issues why the recording companies would be
hesitant to donate their pre-WWII recordings), I'd like to know of
them.

Maybe this is all a pipe dream, and real-world issues will make
everything described above impossible. Nevertheless, I present my
thoughts here for the usual criticism. However, I request that those
here look on the positive side, to suggest changes by which the
core purposes as outlined above can be made to work. I recall
something my Ph.D. advisor once told me: "One can think up a hundred
ways why something won't work, but all you have to do is think up one
way by which to make it work." So it is better to focus on the "one
way to make it work" than overly dwell upon the "hundred ways why it
won't work".

If there are seeds of good ideas here, and you are interested in 
pursuing with me the preliminary planning for organizing this
non-profit, let me know.

Thanks.

Jon Noring

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