Back in the day 1987 we were discussing copyright issues at the ARSC 
meeting at UCLA. A dealer wanted to make a copy of one of Dave Brubeck's 
recordings for the "little old lady wanting it for her husbands 
birthday" but didn't have a second copy to sell her. Dave Brubeck, (one 
of our panel with Captial Records counsel, Melville Nimmer,) said, "Send 
her to me, I'll give her a copy."
     Melville Nimmer at that time, Counsel for Capital Records also said 
that they would never give permission for a reproduction of their 
recordings because it was tantamount to requiring them to write a new 
contract with each of the musicians hired to play for the recording, an 
impossible job, given they wouldn't know how to contact many of them.
Paul T. Jackson


On 5/23/2017 1:27 PM, John Haley wrote:
> Steve, I don't know what "protected" means.  Something is either subject to
> copyright or it isn't.  Law is one thing; assumptions are something else.
>
> Orphan labels are a very interesting topic.  But that is not really a
> copyright concern, at least under federal law--virtually all the orphan
> labels are for recordings way before 1972.  The state law analysis is
> possible but usually messy.  Still, because it is messy (uncertain), it
> serves as a deterrent that really should not be there.
>
> Karl, as you no doubt know, many institutions have an overlay regarding
> copyright law coming from a separate (and very important) copyright rule
> about "fair use."  Archives and libraries are often in a position to claim
> it, as an exception to otherwise valid copyright law.  Personally, I wish
> they would be more aggressive about expanding it, but they generally don't
> want to.  Fair use is unrelated to PD.
>
> Best,
> John
>
>
> On Tue, May 23, 2017 at 3:42 PM, Karl Miller <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Putting stuff up on the web...While my label is very small...I have found
>> instances where our recordings were posted on YouTube. I contacted YouTube
>> and had to convince them that we owned the recordings. The poster had to
>> remove the recording. We have no money to initiate legal action against the
>> poster.
>>
>> Yet, in the instance of an institution posting without copyright
>> clearance...as my father the lawyer used to say, "you don't sue anyone
>> unless they have the money to pay you." In my experience at an
>> institution...the University of Texas at Austin...the University developed
>> a policy that if you, as an employee violate copyrights in any way, the
>> University will not pay your legal expenses and you as an individual will
>> be held responsible. Interestingly, when I was hired by the University, I
>> was given instructions to do something which I believed to be in violation
>> of the copyrights. I refused and the issue ended up in the Office of
>> General Counsel. My unit had to stop that particular activity.
>>
>> As for this particular instance, you might want to contact the internet
>> archive as they seem to posted materials which could be considered
>> "problematic" with respect to the copyrights.
>>
>> Tread lightly.
>>
>> Karl
>>
>> On Tue, May 23, 2017 at 11:44 AM, Steven Smolian <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> As far as I know, just about everything from 1877 to the present is
>>> protected in one way or another.  There are orphan labels with uncertain
>>> ownership.
>>>
>>> In my opinion, putting commercial sound recordings on a web site has a
>>> greater potential down than upside.  Other opinions may differ.
>>>
>>> There is a choice to be made between what you can probably get away with
>>> and
>>> the probable liabilities, should things turn nasty.  People do this all
>> the
>>> time.  People acting as employees of institutions  are putting their
>>> institutions at risk.  Institutions have lawyers on staff to advise.  My
>>> opinion.
>>>
>>> Steve Smolian
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Roth
>>> Sent: Monday, May 22, 2017 12:53 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Another copyright question
>>>
>>> Hello again
>>>
>>> I have an LP made by A.B.C.    (J. Naftali Records). Of singer Albert
>> Ortiz
>>> (The Yiddish Golden Voice of)
>>> I need to know if there's any chance of copyright issues.
>>>
>>> Might there be a list of labels that are definitely not copyrighted
>>> anymore.
>>> Of course, there's are the artists that might still be alive and
>>> copyrighted.
>>>
>>> I don't intend to make copies or sell them, just to put it on a free
>>> website.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Ben
>>>
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