Re: [ARSCLIST] Correspondence with Lawrence Lessig

[stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

----- Original Message -----
From: "James L Wolf" <jwol@xxxxxxx>
>   Remember that our friend Sonny Bono added 20 years to that sentence.
> So this means pre-1972 recordings don't go out of common-law copyright
> until 2067. At least until the next extension.
> >>> mrichter@xxxxxxx 07/21/03 03:01AM >>>
> Incidentally, the last entry at the last URL is "Life + 70 years or
> 12-31-2047 whichever is greater". Frankly, that sounds to me more like
> a
> term of incarceration than a term of protection.
Aren't these "life +" copyright terms on the songs, rather than the sound
recordings? And, is it not true that sound recordings before 1972 are not
copyrighted due to an oversight of the writers of the original law, so
they had to be protected by various state anti-piracy laws? Keep in
mind that until after the 1942-44 AFM strike, it wasn't standard practice
to pay royalties to recording artists, so that in 99.9% of cases their
lifespans wouldn't affect what they could collect!
Steven C. Barr