 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Peter
Date: 2002-01-14 18:38
Mark Charette: I swear nobody is trying to sell this!!!
This is strictly a hypothetical question of interest. The question came up because the collection does exist, it's being copied over onto a hard drive, and the question came up as to what eventually happens to such collections, other than donating them to museums.
As the snake said to the kid in Disneys' Jungle Book: "Trust in me, only me..." :-)
Suppose a person owns a large collection, both, of printed and recorded music, most of it under copyright restrictions. The substance of the collection is slowly, but surely being copied onto a huge hard drive and stored electronically, in a computer for the collection's owner's future pleasure.
The person decides they have way too much stuff (in general) and want to get rid of a bunch of it, and a decision is made to sell the (original, physical not computer stored) music collection as part of the good junk to be disposed of and it's worth a small fortune.
Can they do so legally?
Can the person even legally copy it over into, and store the substance of the music collection in the hard drive, even though it's intended for personal use only?
Is donating them to a museum even a legal option? This last was probably a dumb question.
Here are some issues:
1. Neither the publishers, nor the composers, nor recording artists, and/or their assignees (if any) are going to make any money off of the sale of the collection.
2. Many of the items to be sold have gained in value over the years, by virtue of their being either:
a. Original studio tapes, etc.;
b. sought-after original recordings, originally sold to the public;
c. recordings and/or sheet music personalized by the composer, the original
performer, or the particular performer who made the piece famous;
d. previously unpublished pieces.
3. The person who "owns" it, does so by virtue of either, having purchased, traditionally inherited, or having been given (as formal gifts,) all its components.
4. The copyrights act of 1979 provides that copyrights are valid for the life of the producing artist, and can be inherited by the assigned artist's successors, and or sold, either in whole or in part, to whomever they may wish to have them.
5. The majority of the collection dates from between the turn of the 1900's to the end of the 1960's, although there is a lot going back further than 1900, and some since the 1960's. Represented in the collection are lots of American, European and Asian music, from folk to classical. There is also a lot of ethnic, and otherwise culturally and religious traditional music represented.
6. If the collection was sold, there might be anywhere from a good to an excellent profit in it, but not for sure, as some pieces could be worth less, some could be worth more than they were worth originally. Of course, since much of it came to the owner at no cost, there will definitely be a much better than average profit.
Can't think of any more, off the top of my head.
So, can such a person just put a price on the collection and sell it?
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Author: Dee
Date: 2002-01-14 18:57
For anything that they sell, they would have to get destroy any copies including those on the hard drive unless of course it is in the pulbic domain (i.e. older than 1923 or the copyright holder let the copyright lapse under the rules previously in effect).
You can legally re-sell originals that you own but you can't keep copies of it.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2002-01-14 19:14
Thanks Dee.
That makes sense in regards to there being, in fact, the ownership of more than one copy of the items deriving from only one original sale.
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Author: William Hughes
Date: 2002-01-14 19:49
Remember that there is a distinction between ownership of the copyright and ownership of the material. You may have purchased a piece of sheet music (or record or CD or tape) but the ways in which you can use the information contained in that particular medium are restricted under the copyright laws. If you intend to perform or play the work in public or otherwise use it commercially, you must obtain the permission of the copyright holder (and perhaps pay a royalty). Likewise, if you intend to make copies of the material, except for what falls under the doctrine known as "fair use", you must first obtain permission. When you dispose of the material, whether by gift or sale, the acquirer of that material is still subject to the same copyright restrictions as to the use that can be made of the music in whatever form.
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Author: Eoin
Date: 2002-01-14 19:50
While most publishers say that you are not entitled to store the music on your hard disk at all, most people take the reasonable view that if you have bought the music, you can copy it for your own personal use. This would include putting it on your hard disk. You are not entitled to send copies to all your friends. You are not entitled to keep any copies when you pass on or sell the original music, as Dee has said.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-01-15 00:52
You are allowed an analog copy of a digital source in the US (the law actually specifically says you will not be prosecuted for doing this - however it doesn't say it's legal - go figure!). but you are not supposed to make a digital copy. New CDs are supposed to have some code on them to prevent them from being "ripped" onto your hard drive.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2002-01-15 05:09
Mark,
Would that, ostensibly, mean that a person who owned a piece of music, say, in mp3 format might be able to "legally" copy it onto a cassette tape, but not onto a hard drive?
FYI: We are not looking for ways to circumvent copyright law either, just to find more informed input to a discussion we had recently, as I said before.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-01-15 21:41
Peter,
I don't know about MP3 since that's not a "pure" digital recording but a lossy compressed one; the algorithm used to compress may or may not affect the "non-prosecution" clause. You'd have to consult a real lawyer.
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Author: Peter
Date: 2002-01-16 03:24
Thanks, guys. I guess the bottom line is that making copies for personal use might be feasible, but legally speaking, the copies would have to be destroyed if the collection were to change hands.
We have rarely played any of the originals, except to copy them over onto cassette tapes so we have the copies to play. In fact, the collection sits in a room next to my office, but it's a real pain in the butt to have to keep changing media everytime one (or a few) runs out. I can set up Winamp in a computer with hundreds of pieces in a play-list to go for days at a time and not have to worry about it.
BTW, I haven't had a reel to reel in more than 20 years, but there is a tape there marked "Elvis Presley - 1.5 hours - Studio" and nothing else. One of these days I have to get together with one of the local radio stations, or somebody who might have one to finally find out what's on that tape. The way my luck runs, probably nothing, we've seen similar before!
Oh, and would you believe 95 different versions of St. Louis Blues and more than 300 pieces by Louis Armstrong?
I couldn't part with the collecton anyway, I've taken care of it for so many years that I wouldn't know what to do without it. My kids will probably trash it all when I'm gone.
Oh, well.
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