Re: [ARSCLIST] Disposition of those bluegrass tapes

[steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Ross" <johnross@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> At  6/27/2006 07:33 PM, Steven C. Barr wrote:
> >First, the rights to the recordings would probably...at least in most
cases...
> >belong to the party who did the recording (this assumes they were
on-scene
> >live recordings of musicians who weren't signed to a record label).
>
> That's not consistent with the information my copyright lawyer has
> given me, but the law could be different in Canada. In the US, every
> recording is protected by three different forms of copyright -- on
> the performance, on the recording and on the composition.
>
No...that is the same up here. The only difference is that in Canada,
oddly enough, there is NOT mandatory license for the song, so the
publisher could, in theory, refuse its use! However, note my disclaimer
above. If the recording was of a bunch of friends (and thus involved
no musicians under contract) they would have the right...but no
particular reason...to prevent the reissue or other use of the
recording (however, under current law that right would end at the
end of the calendar year fifty years after the recording was made).
This will probably change, as the first recordings of Elvis Presley
will be p.d. on 1/1/2007!

> Just because I own the tapes, and I have a chain of possession from
> the person who recorded them, I still don't own any rights to the
> performance unless each performer has assigned them to me, or there
> is some kind of blanket contract that covers all members of a band or
> orchestra. So, for example, I need to obtain a release from every
> sideman in a jazz combo. And if I have a tape made at a pick-up
> session, I have to identify everybody who is playing.
>
Note that my comment assumes that the musicians recorded would have
no reason to prevent their work being reissued or otherwise reused...

> Royalties are even more complicated, because different rules apply to
> different types of distribution. U.S. copyright law requires radio
> and TV broadcasters to pay composers' royalties, but they don't have
> to pay a performer each time they play a recording.
>
However, distributing a recording via the Internet does NOT work
the same way is it does over radio! Originally, playing records
over the air was strictly illegal (though a law often violated)...
but when the first "disc jockeys" appeared (1930's) record
companies noticed that sales increased for records played on the
radio. By the post-WWII era, record companies were providing
deejays with free "promo copies" (and, later, paying them to
play the discs...cf. "payola"...) and that practice still continues.
However, records played over the net can be copied digitally...
producing essentially perfect copies of already-digital CD's...
and the royalties net "broadcasters" pay is supposed to reflect
that fact.

> Fortunately, there is an exemption in the U.S. copyright act that
allows access and very limited distribution for "research," so I can
allow visitor to my museum to listen to recordings on-site.
As I said, it's complicated, and I'm sure it's different in other
countries. But it does become a problem if I ever want to release a
recording on a commercial CD, or make it available for download
through the 'net.

As well, current US copyright legislation extends the copyright
on EVERY sound recording (including Edison's "Mary Had a Little
Lamb" should they find the original tin foil!) until 2067...and
the term can be extended should the industry see fit! However,
the songs in the US fall under "mandatory license" (The Acme
Music Publishing works and Salami Manufactory has to be paid
the appropriate royalty, but they can't stop you from using
their song). As far as the performance rights, these only
become complicated under two circumstances...if someone you
recorded specifically WON'T allow you to use the recording
(mebbe you ran off with his wife?...), or if someone you
recorded is under contract to a record label that prevents
anyone else from recording and issuing his/her/its work
(i.e. I have some live recordings where Jeff Healey sat in
with my band that I, technically, couldn't reissue and sell!)

Nonetheless, I still think that these live recordings should
be archived...not because I ever expect to be famous, but just
because they were part, however small, of Toronto's musical
history!

Steven C. Barr



> John Ross
>