Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!van-bc!
From: lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Copyrights on music
Message-ID: <1857@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca>
Date: 7 Aug 90 00:21:24 GMT
Lines: 30
Return-Path: <lpami!lphillips>
To: van-bc!rnews

In <12854@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, jlh@noether.math.purdue.edu (Jeffrey Hensley) writes:
>	Since there has been a lot of talk lately about
>copyrights and patents and such, I was wondering if one of you
>in the know could tell me how to obtain information on copyrights
>and royalties for music.
>	I want to add a soundtrack to some Amiga animations, but
>I don't want to get myself into legal trouble and produce something
>which can't be legally distributed.
>	My inclination is to dig into my record collection and pull
>out some classic work and use it.  But am I safe?  How do I find out
>if a record (an old one) has an enforcable copyright, or who do I
>contact about royalty fees? (I have noticed that many of my records,
>at least the old ones with serious music, have no copyright notices
>on them).

Be aware that even if a copyright has expired on a piece of music, or even if a
piece of music is public domain from the start (like 'House of the Rising
Sun'), there _will_ be a copyright on the performance itself. ie. if you
digitize a performance from record, tape, whatever, you will be violating the
copyright _for that performance_.

-larry

--
Sex is better than logic, but I can't prove it.
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|   //   Larry Phillips                                                 |
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