Rod Stephens wrote:
Hello Karl,
I've watched the back and forth discussion re: copyrights with much
interest for a personal reason. During my personal time, I've been
remastering to CD recordings from 1/4" master tapes that were made
from 1951 to 1955 at small western college that I attended. In fact,
I was a member of the choral ensemble that was the subject of the
recordings, so I guess that would make me one of the artists. Also,
the tapes were recorded by a local engineer/dairyman (his hobby), and
then, used to make two commercial releases by Columbia Masterworks.
There are about three more LPs that were released on Columbia's minor
labels (Harmony, Epic, etc.). However, the masters have remained in
the possession of the succeeding conductors of the choir, and only
recently were given to me for remastering. I have sold a small
number of the CDs to choir alumni (also, the "artists") who requested
them, the cost of which, used to cover my minor costs, and the
balance sent to the current college choir fund (a charitable
donation). The main thrust of this remastering is to be part of an
archive at the college which we alums are trying to set up, so that
there will be a history for the ongoing ensemble carrying on the
tradition, and others that can take pride in the achievements that
have been carried on at the school.
So far, the current director of the ensemble, one of the school of
music professors, says that my remasterings are much better than the
Columbia LPs, but I credit that to the digital tools that I use today
that weren't available to the Columbia engineers. Anyway, I feel
that these are substantially improved recordings and changed in the
process.
I guess I'm asking what the potential sale of these new renditions to
the public could trigger? Or, is just the private sale to alums
legal? We wish to generate revenue to help set up the archive.
Again, remember, the masters were produced by our own engineer and
returned I would guess after submastering to LP (the director who
conducted and took the masters has passed on, so I don't have any
direct knowledge of the process). I'm pretty sure that these are the
original masters due to the writing and EQ settings on the tape
boxes, and the manual splices and manual editing.
I'd appreciate any input on what I feel is a unique situation.
As always, it is necessary to note that I am not an attorney. The
following is from my reading and a few discussions with attorneys.
It is essential to find out what agreement was signed with Columbia
for the commercial releases. In all likelihood, it is limited to the
titles they published, but it could have an exclusivity clause which
goes farther.
Someone in the school's legal office should contact someone at CBS
after reviewing the agreement. Under the circumstances, it is likely
that CBS would waive any rights the agreement might have given them.
It is even possible, though quite unlikely, that they would like to
publish one or more of your transfers.
The essential point is that the college presumably had all rights
initially unless there was a soloist under contract, in which case
that agreement would also have to be checked. Some rights were granted
to Columbia for publication; they are what probably need to be waived.
Mike
--
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/