Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!uunet!cbmvax!givler
From: givler@cbmvax.commodore.com (Greg Givler - Product Assurance)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Copyrights on music
Message-ID: <13721@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 9 Aug 90 15:20:37 GMT
References: <1857@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca>
Reply-To: givler@cbmvax (Greg Givler - Product Assurance)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 41

In article <1857@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca> lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips) writes:
>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

You should check with ASCAP. I think it stands for the American Society 
of Composers and Publishers. They control the payment of royalties for
their members. That is how stuff played on the radio makes money for 
the writers and performers.

Greg

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