Re: [ARSCLIST] Triage, heroic efforts, and economics

[Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx>]

Karl Miller wrote:
> On Tue, 23 May 2006, Richard L. Hess wrote:

> > I think there is a vast pool of recordings out there that your
> > discussion excludes that are equally or more in need of preservation
> > as they are unique. These generally fall outside of the copyright
> > discussions we have been having, although it may not be 100% clear as
> > to who owns the copyrights and whether they are even copyrighted. I
> > am speaking of tapes like your piano student's and the vast archive
> > or oral histories that have been made in many areas.
>
>
> Yes, I have left them out as my vision is too often myopic...limited to my
> own interests.

It is my limited understanding of U.S. law that copyright inheres in any 
recording. In the usual case, where there is no contract, many 
participants may have rights.

For example, there are cases in which a participant in a performance has 
a tape, perhaps supplied for his/her personal use by the organization 
putting on the production or by a local broadcaster. The participant 
wishes to extract parts for posting on the WWW or for a CD demonstrating 
his/her art. I've done such quite often, but the artist is in many cases 
surprised to learn that there are others with rights to that recording. 
In short, though the diva may feel that she is the reason for the record 
having been made, without releases from orchestra, conductor, chorus and 
other singers she is on the wrong side of the law and at risk.

Mike
--
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/