I wasn't talking about the U.S. rights to "Tiger Rag," I was speaking of the ex-U.S. rights, which were based on the life of the author plus 50 years until it was extended to 70 years. The question is, is "Tiger Rag" public domain in the rest of the world, and if so, when did it become so? According to the Life + 50 rule, the song should still be protected until 50 years after the death of Sbarbaro, the last living author, which would take it to 1/1/2020. Since the non-U.S. term was extended to Life + 70, that means the song shouldn't P.D. everywhere until 2040.
 
Cary Ginell
 

> Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:25:28 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Recordings of 1920s 78rpm Records - Public Domain?
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> When the United States shifted from a fixed term copyright (56, 75 or
> 95 years) to a "life plus" copyright term for works by individuals
> under the 1976 copyright act, the change was not retrospective.
> 
> So a song composition by Stevie Wonder first published in 1975 will
> have a term of protection of 95 years, while a Stevie Wonder song
> published in 1978 will be protected for "life of the author plus 70
> years."
> 
> David Pierce
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 12:57 PM, Cary Ginell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > "Tiger Rag" is indeed in the public domain in the U.S., but since the last survivor of the band, Tony Sbarbaro, died in 1969, shouldn't the publishing rights for the rest of the world be protected until 70 years after his death (1/1/2040)? Or had it already lapsed when the foreign rights law was extended from Life + 50 to Life + 70? As far as I know, the instrumental version was copyrighted cumulatively as by the ODJB (LaRocca, Sbarbaro, Shields, & Edwards - pianist Henry Ragas' name wasn't credited). Harry DeCosta wrote the lyrics later on, but I'm not certain what year.
> >
> > Cary Ginell
> >
> >