[Dixielandjazz] Public Domain Information

[Chuck Kercher]

What a shame it would've been not to have Charlie Parker's existing chord
change tunes. He created a new tune everytime he blew the horn, I think.
chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Barbone" <barbonestreet@earthlink.net>
To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 02, 2002 12:01 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Public Domain Information


> For those budding recording artists who wish to learn more about
> "copyright" and "public domain" as it relates to the music business, the
> following web site will be helpful:
>
> http://www.pdinfo.com/list/s.htm
>
> Just click on everything on the site. It will keep you busy for days.
> Even has a list of some 3500 Public Domain songs. It also affirms
> earlier postings that EVERYTHING PUBLISHED in 1922 or prior is now in
> the public domain. However, if someone takes a PD song and modifies it,
> that modification, of melody and/or lyric can be copyrighted.
>
> However, it appears that chord progressions cannot be copyrighted. Hence
> the re-write of new tunes on existing chord progressions.
>
> One of the interesting bits of information on the site is Elvis
> Presley's "Love Me Tender". The tune is "Aura Lee" and in the public
> domain so you can play it. However, his lyrics were added and
> copyrighted, so you can't sing them without royalties being due.
>
> Another is the re-write of the lyrics to :"Shine". The original "That's
> Why They Call Me Shine", song and lyrics are PD having been written in
> 1910. However, the "Shine Your Shoesies" lyric written after 1922 is
> protected by US Copyright Laws.
>
> Also, generally speaking, it affirms that the copyright laws regarding
> music are so tangled up that it is virtually impossible to state with
> certainty whether or not some songs written after 1922 are under
> copyright. People who ask for "positive proof" from a reliable source
> are whistling in the wind. And each Country has different copyright
> laws.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
> PS. Perhaps the best source for copyrighted song lists would be to get
> the files sent to Napster by Sony, etc. Some 150,000 songs were listed
> as being under copyright protection by the various companies seeking to
> take their free distribution off the internet.
>
>
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