Klarinet Archive - Posting 000141.txt from 2003/06

From: Dan Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Reproductive rights
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 15:00:28 -0400

I have stayed out of this discussion entirely because I have very little
knowledge or authority on the subject. I do however have an interesting
story.

I was librarian of a symphony orchestra and probably violated copyright
restrictions right and left. I just never thought about it.

For example, I made a copy of almost every part of every orchestral work
the moment it arrived in case the original was lost by a player 5
minutes before the performance. Also I needed a copy of all the string
parts to have bowings written in them, and which were then copied in the
parts sent to us.

If it was a Beethoven symphony, nobody really cared. But if it was a
work still in copyright, I think that the publishers cared very much.

Now to my story.

We were about to perform a work that very much was still in copyright.
We had played it about 5 years earlier and I had the copied set of parts
that I made at that time. The manager of the orchestra, to save money,
reminded me that I had a set of parts and we did not have to rent them
again.

I told him that we might not have to rent them, but we were going to
have to pay royalties on them and that was included in the rental price.
So "don't screw around," I said. Rent the parts again. We did. But he
was unhappy with my position that he felt was intractible.

A few weeks later the Boston pops was doing a performance of the same
work and, in the intermission, a representative of the publisher got
hold of one of the parts from which they were playing (I don't know
how), and stopped the concert!! That is correct. They stopped the
concert and it did not continue. I heard that cops were there.

I don't think they marched the librarian of the BSO off in handcuffs,
but they did get a big fine for copyright violation.

The manager of my orchestra gave me a hug and I was a hero because it
was said that the publishing company was checking every orchestra who
was doing that work over a 6 month period. They might have checked us too.

As I say. I have no expertise in this area, but I am still a hero.
Wanna see my medal?
--
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**Dan Leeson **
**leeson0@-----.net **
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