Re: [ARSCLIST] Correspondence with Lawrence Lessig

[James L Wolf <jwol@xxxxxxx>]

    The life+70 term is for everything after 1977, sound recordings and
all. Except copyrights held by corporations are for 95 years I think.
Everything published 1964-77 gets an automatic 95 years. Things
published from 1923-1963 get 95 years total if they were renewed before
their first 28 years were up (otherwise PD).
    Sound Recordings before 1972 have no federal copyright protection.
But the morass of state laws remain in effect (unless changed by their
respective states) until Feb. 2067, at which point all pre-1972
recordings enter the Publc Domain. Not that the Corporate Oligarchy will
let that happen, but that's the law for now. The state laws carry real
weight. Try to bootleg the Beatles openly and you'll just get hauled
into a New York court instead of a federal one.
   Royalties are another issue entirely and are addressed in contracts
and the laws that cover them. Don't the companies that handle
"performance rights" such as Harry Fox, ASCAP and BMI handle this stuff?
I guess just Harry Fox for recordings. They are hired by the record
companies to collect the money and distribute the royalties, just as the
music publishers hire ASCAP and BMI for the same purpose.

James

>>> stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 07/21/03 01:53PM >>>
----- 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