[ARSCLIST] Ultimate 78 digitalia--was: Record Business vs. Music Business: The Shakeout Continues.

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "D P Ingram" <darren@xxxxxxxxx>
> On 18 maj 2007, at 04.45, Steven C. Barr(x) wrote:
> > Keep in mind that in the USA there exists NO "clearly out of  
> > copyright"
> > sound-recording material! The most recent "improvements" to that  
> > aspect
> > of copyright law left all pre-1972 sound recordings under the auspices
> > of various state laws and common-law precedent, and this protection
> > usually lacks any mention of "until..."!
> Some one else wrote off list with this warning and alerted me to  
> potential other changes.  I wonder if, instead, I could incorporate  
> information (if people opt to make the information available) of  
> their collection in the database project, so it could be then seen  
> that "Steven C Barr" has a copy of a given disk and of course someone  
> could take contact direct with you if they wanted more information or  
> a "loan" of the said media. Nothing then is being facilitated or  
> traded other than a contact for academic study. It might also help  
> libraries and the like.  One planned feature was the ability for  
> collectors to maintain their own list from the "MASTER" database that  
> is being developed (but not yet populated) and I guess this could be  
> a natural extension. The user would be able to choose to make their  
> "collection information" available and visible or just held private  
> to themselves.
> 
Well...here we run into one major problem! Under EXISTING laws (however
long they may last) I can provide a copy (digital and/or analog) to
anyone in Canada, the UK and, in fact, all (or nearly so) of the EU.
The sound contained on the phonorecord is in the public domain as long
as the recording was fixed on or before December 31, 1956.

HOWEVER...if the requestor is a resident of the US Of A, one of us...
and I believe that would be the US-ian...is violation the pseudo-
eternal copyright law which the late Sonny Bono left us as his
parting gesture! With the current "Thou Shalt Not Share Sound
Recordings...Buy Your OWN <deleted> Copy, We Need the Money!"
adopted by the US recording industry, it cannot be guaranteed that
this "major criminal" won't be thrun into the County Calabozo for
life plus 100 years, fined an amount equivalent to the expenses
of Dubya's adventures in the Middle East, or both...!

That said, I am highly in favour of the creation and accumulation
of a "defining" database of discographic information on at least
every 78prm phonorecord ever issued...and I'll help insofar as
possible!

As well...if one assumes my estimate of three million 78 phonorecords
having been issued in total in North America...and, as well, if one
accepts that an *.MP3 file of 1,048,576 bytes can provide an acceptable
sonic representation of a 3-minute (+/-) recording...and one takes into
account that the portion of SF phonorecords is essentially too small
for concern...we arrive at 2 * 3,000,000 * 1MB...or about 6 million
megabytes...or 6 terabytes...of storage needed to contain the entire
set of 78-phonorecord sound files! And...hard drives of 1TB capacity
are already being offered (we'd need six of them, so if they cost
$500, our storage expense would be $3,000.00...!)!

So, it is physically possible...the legality remains to be determined
(and lawyers don't come cheap...!!)...

Steven C. Barr