Hey now, I never "tell" anyone to do anything on this list. "Suggest" is my preferred term. ;)

35 years is enough time to make your bones off a song. It should go into the PD after that. However,
one thing that crossed my mind is, you shouldn't be able to lift phrases and words wholesale from a
PD song and get a copyright for it. How does that get enforced? What's "wholesale lifting" in the
legal sense? Gray area!

-- Tom Fine


----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Biel" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 2:44 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Morning reading: One take on patents, somewhat related to discussions we've
had on copyrights, plus a take on copyrights


> Tom Fine originally told us to read:
>
> More directly related to what we discuss on this list:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/arts/music/springsteen-and-others-soon-eligible-to-recover-song-rights.html
>
> This article talks about the RECORDING ARTISTS being able to recover their copyrights from the
> record companies after 35 years. The recording artists who potentially would care more about the
> recordings than the record companies -- which usually have no relationship to the company they had
> recorded for in the first place.
>
> On 8/16/2011 1:48 PM, Bob Olhsson wrote:
>> From: Thatcher Graham " Doesn't the ARSC typically argue that copyright
>> is already too harsh..."
>>
>> I'm afraid lots of ARSC people want to exploit recordings that they didn't
>> pay for creating. As I said, the rationalizations for weakening copyright
>> are endless. "Preservation" is a pretty common one.
>
> Tell me, Bob, exactly what did Sony pay for in creating the recordings that were made by Victor or
> Columbia in, say 1915, that they don't even have copies of in their own archive??? Tell me.
> This was even before Mr. Sony himself was born. If it were a BOOK it would be in Public Domain.
> If it were a MOVIE it would be in Public Domain. If it was almost any other country in the world
> it would have been in Public Domain since 1965, and if it was a sound recording made in 1960 it
> would be in Public Domain now. Just because in 1975 we had some of the stupidest and easiest
> legislators to buy we have a totally asinine 186 year copyright term for sound recordings that
> when today's legislators are told this they are flabbergasted -- until they are bought by the
> RIAA.
>
>
>>
>> Unfortunately the consequence will be (some would argue already is) lots
>> worse new recordings in the future. I think it's really magical thinking to
>> suggest otherwise. Do we really want a world where the only quality choice
>> will be historical recordings?
>>
>> Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
>
> This makes no sense. The recording industry has already realized that the gravy train is gone and
> has cut back on expenses -- and there has been change in the copyright term! If the companies
> somehow think that they can no longer exploit a recording for a term of NINETY-FIVE YEARS, but
> maybe only 35 or 50 or 75, would they spend a dime less on the "quality" of their current
> productions because of the copyright term length????? You know darn well that all they are
> concerned with is sales in the first months of release. Record producers know that if they keep
> snorting coke they won't be around when the record hits "back catalog" so who cares?
>
> Besides, the article was about the RECORDING ARTISTS getting control of the recordings, something
> that many of the current performers already want and therefor are bypassing the sham of getting a
> recording contract with the the major rip-off labels. Are you saying that only the major rip-off
> labels know how to make quality recordings and that is why you feel quality has already gone
> down???
>
> Mike Biel [log in to unmask]
>