[Dixielandjazz] CD Royalties?

[dixielandjazz]

Hi gang,

I am requesting help/opinions/info today. 

We're preparing to record a CD consisting of tunes written between 1917 and
1934. The owner of the company who will be duplicating our CDs (we plan to
make 1,000 copies) tells me he needs documentation that we have permission
from the publishers of the songs to record them. In the past, I've been told
that, since the tunes are all more than 50 years old, we need not worry
about paying the licensing fees. Upon researching today, however, I'm
finding that "mechanical licensing" appears to be required on nearly every
song on our list (despite their very old age). At 8 cts per song x 1,000
CDs, that's going to be a heavy chunk of change. Basically, it's $82 per
song that we put on the CD.

We do not have a problem with paying the royalties if we're legally required
to pay, but if we don't have to, well...you see where I'm headed?

Here's the link at which I keep arriving while trying to resolve this: 

http://songfile.snap.com/nonpro_search.html

So, my questions are: 1) Do we need to pay? 2) Did you pay the royalties on
the last CD your band recorded (if you have a band)? 3) Is my duplicator guy
just duping me instead? 4) What's your take on all this?

I've been involved in several CD projects in the past and, with regards to
paying publishers royalities or licenses, it's always been "no problem, the
songs are too old to worry about, etc. etc...." 

So, what do you think? Thanks, gang!

Dave