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I think that it's shortsighted to characterize ARSC's positions on copyright reform as "weakening" copyright. In fact, if ARSC's recommendation to federalize pre-1972 recordings were to become a reality, new income would come to record companies and other rights holders. In addition, the ARSC Board has endorsed performing rights for analog broadcasting for all recordings. But as an organization we are concerned about inaccessibility of historical recordings as well as preservation of them. Try to get a preservation grant these days without having an access component. Some facts: U.S. recordings made prior to Feb. 15, 1972, will not eneter the public domain until 2067. This includes cylinders of the 1890s. Approx. 85% of historical recodings made prior to 1965 are not available commercially from their rights holders. Under present laws that outline preservation, a sound recording may not be preserved (digitized) unless it is *already* deteriorating and a replacement copy cannot be purchased at a fair price. (What preservation we do is probably legal under Fair use provisions of the law. But the concept and practice of Fair Use is under fire by many rights holders.) ARSC has never endorsed any type of record piracy. Sam Brylawski On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 1:48 PM, Bob Olhsson <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > -----Original Message----- > From: Thatcher Graham "I have never seen anyone who works with media argue > that patents are too "soft." 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. > > 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 > Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control > Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined! > 615.562.4346 http://www.bobolhsson.com http://audiomastery.com >