[Dixielandjazz] (no subject)

[Edgerton, Paul A]

JBB (and others):

I believe you are correct when you call the recording and music publishing
industry a big swindle. I also believe you are correct when you state that
most independent artist-produced recordings are made and sold without regard
to royalty collection and payment. But there is an enormous difference
between stating that you don't pay royalties on your CDs and recommending
that somebody else do likewise. This puts you into the position of
dispensing legal advice, something I suspect you are not qualified to do.
You open yourself to trouble when you advise people to break the law.

Typically, an independent release generates such small sales that they never
appear on the radar screen of the big guys. We want it to stay that way
because then they leave us alone and we can do as we please. There's nothing
wrong with telling your friends and correspondents about what you have done,
but I would caution you about doing that over a more public medium like
DJML.

I hate the weasels as much as you do, and I wish our system rewarded the
authors rather than the suits. The fact is, copyright law is very
complicated. Nobody has yet mentioned the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright
Act) which has made broad changes to the existing copyright law mainly
benefiting record companies, but let me assure that it gives the record
considerable muscle and they have contracted with companies to ferret out
"violators." In the main, they are looking for unlicensed copies of pop
records (e.g. MP3s) but their nets are cast wide so as not to miss anything.

Paul Edgerton
Views expressed are mine and do not represent my hapless employers.