[Dixielandjazz] Re:MORE ASCAP .

[G. William Oakley]

Hi Dave:
Yes, it does.  I have nothing but fond memories of my St. Louis years.
As for you other query, it would be almost impossible for anything written pre-1924 to not be in the public domain.  It would be such a tangled web for a rights-owner to come up with a rationale that I think it is safe to say everything is public domain.  Anything written in that time frame would be subject to the 1907 Copyright Law with its term of 58 years protection and the rights would have expired in the 70's.  This is prior to the new copyright legislation which is a different ball of wax.
The problem with ASCAP and the other licensing agents is that they rely on fear and intimidation to sell their license.  On the local level they have no knowledge of what is legitimately ASCAP or what is BMI and and and on.  So what they do is try to scale people into paying.  I had a bar in Denver which was separate from the Heritage Square Opera House (which was licensed) and the ASCAP goon insisted I had to have a license to turn on the TV for sports programming.  "They play the national anthem don't they?, was his idiotic reasoning."  Needless to say I told him to get stuffed and the matter was over.
This is not a legal opinion,  just anecdotal advice based on my experience with ASCAP but in every situation where we had a confrontation and I had my lawyer there they always buckled,
Best,
Bill
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dave Gravatt 
  To: G. William Oakley 
  Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 2:31 PM
  Subject: Re: Re: [Dixielandjazz] I just got the ASCAP call.


  Thanks for the feedback, Bill. It is certainly a murky subject but do you believe that I am correct in thinking that ANYTHING written/published before 1924 is public domain and, therefore, may be played freely by anyone, anywhere, anytime? I've researched this topic before and what I found out is that it's very complicated and that *nobody* really knows the answer.

  By the way, I have kept an email of yours requesting a recording of "The Letter" for many months now. I promise I'll get around to finding that darn thing one of these days.

  Another thing you might be interested in: I got a call from Herb Mahler, pres of the St. Louis jazz Club yesterday about our coming up to play sometime. Not sure they can afford us but it was good to get the call. Bring back any memories?

  Thanks again.

  Dave
  =============
  Dave Gravatt
  "It's a treat to beat your feet."
  The Creole Dixieland Jazz Band
  Ozark, Missouri
  http://www.CreoleJazz.com


  -------Original Message-------
  > From: G. William Oakley <gwilliamoakley at earthlink.net>
  > Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] I just got the ASCAP call.
  > Sent: Feb 19 2004 13:59:56
  >
  > Hi Dave:
  > I have to agree with Tom.  My many years of experience with ASCAP was
  > constant aggravation.  Their persistent and thuggish attitude never let up.
  > I would hope that this is not the case with your club owner but I certainly
  > wouldn't bet the farm on it.
  > Best,
  > Bill
  > ----- Original Message -----
  > From: "Dave Gravatt" <dave at creolejazz.com>
  > To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
  > Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 11:17 AM
  > Subject: [Dixielandjazz] I just got the ASCAP call.
  > 
  > 
  > > A week or so ago we were discussing ASCAP, BMI, etc on this list.
  > Coincidentally, this morning I got a call from the owner of the place where
  > we play on Mondays saying he'd just received a letter from ASCAP asking for
  > their fee for our playing there. I told him to tell them that we're doing
  > all public domain stuff -- music written well before 1923 and there should
  > be no fee involved. He seemed fine with that.
  > >
  > > After reading some of the comments posted last week I felt very prepared
  > for this very unexpected situation. Thank you all very much. Should I expect
  > any other response/inquiry/inquisition from ASCAP or will this now go away?
  > >
  > > Dave
  > > =============
  > > Dave Gravatt
  > > "It's a treat to beat your feet."
  > > The Creole Dixieland Jazz Band
  > > Ozark, Missouri
  > > http://www.CreoleJazz.com
  > >
  > > _______________________________________________
  > > Dixielandjazz mailing list
  > > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
  > > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
  > >
  -------Original Message-------