[Dixielandjazz] Copyright Law

[Rorel at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/1/2007 11:08:26 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
barbonestreet at earthlink.net writes:

"Hey  Ray, I'm with you. Copyright law depends upon who does the  
interpreting.
ASCAP would naturally say they are not sure about pre 1923  songs, because
they are probably still trying to figure out how they can  scam us into
paying royalties on them, irrespective of the law which is  very clear. (as
far as most laws go)"
I think my contact there was pretty sincere as he is a friend as well as a  
business associate.  My own independently-conceived take on it is why would  a 
publisher bother to go through the paperwork and expense to renew a copyright  
if it were not going to offer them no further protection?  Secondly, if THE  
SHIEK OF ARABY is in public domain, why is nobody else publishing ther own  
editions?  The only available version I know is published by Feist, or  whatever 
conglomerate owns it now (EMI I think, but it could just as easily be  
Borden).
 
Here's how to settle this:  I will pay for anyone on list to  self-publish 
their own version of THE SHEIK OF ARABY and help you get it up  on AMAZON and 
SHEET MUSIC PLUS if in turn you let me send it to the legal  department at Feist 
with your home address and phone number.  I am  sure we will find out what 
the law is pretty quickly!  (I hope you  recognize my feeble attempt at humor).
 



"I have no beef about paying royalties IF THE COMPOSER WAS  ASSURRED THE
MONEY. But that is not the case. When working at a venue which  pays a
licensing fee for music, there is no check-off as to what song is  played.
There is no specific payment, say to Babette Ory, when we play  Muskrat
Ramble. The money goes into a general fund that ASCAP disburses,  after
taking their administrative cut. That disbursement goes, by pre set  formula,
to the most popular music composers. And that ain't  Ory."
 
 



Royalties are something completely different from licensing  fees.  Royalties 
actually do get to the composer or their estate.   They are not paid to ASCAP 
but to the Harry Fox Agency which is basically a  collection agency for the 
publishers.  I totally agree with you when you  say that the little guy sees 
very little, if any, of the licensing fee.   Only the heavy hitters see any of 
that money and, to quote a smart fellow I  know, "And that ain't Ory."  I do 
know ASCAP is trying to remedy that,  though even they don;t know how to track 
the small guys who only fly under the  radar.  Our David Newman recording, "I 
Remember Brother Ray" was THE  most-played jazz record in the country in 2005.  
THE MOST.  We beat  out Concord, Blue Note, Verve, all the major labels.  I 
don't think we  ever saw any monies on that.  My guesstimate is that you need 
to  get at least 20 to 30 spins a day from all the reporting stations in the  
country for ASCAP to spot you on their radar.  As the technology gets  better I 
think the Performing Rights Organizations may be able to track better  but 
for now that is the situation.
 
Luckily, most of my gigs find me as an independent contractor and I don't  
have to worry about licensing fees.  For the four or five self-sponsored  shows 
I do a year, I pays the $35 bucks as cheap insurance.  If that  bothers some 
people here, so be it.  I am certainly not crying myself to  sleep on a 
tear-stained pillow over it.  They are just over-dramatizing,  for whether I pay or 
not has no impact on them.  They are free to do as  they please.  And I am sure 
that my $35 is not keeping anybody in business  "thieving bastards" or 
otherwise.
 
But if you make a CD that will receive any kind of national visibility, pay  
your mechanical royalties.  Not only does that money find its way to the  
composers/administrators, the Harry Fox Agency can literally shut you down for  
not doing so.  I've seen it happen/
 
I don't know about you guys, but I'm talked out on this subject.  Does  
anybody know what happened to Gene Kardos' book of arrangements?
 
Ray
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