[Dixielandjazz] Public Domain music; or "Screw the tune police!"

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Jazz Fans,

Here in Israel we do not (yet!) have gigs getting cancelled because the
musical extortion racket puts the screws to the venues ... at least I have
not heard of any. But on my last CD, I played 18 songs, the newest being
Bourbon St Parade, which is over 50 years old, and the others were pretty
much before 1940, and fully half of them were prior to 1923. 16 -- count
'em -- of the 18 were still in copyright under the Israeli law of 70 years
after the composer's death! On my first CD, I paid copyright fees for
Alexander's Ragtime Band, and, yes friends, When the Saints Go Marching In.
That last one I might have been able to contest if I had caught it in time,
but we were under time pressure to get the CD released. I suppose some
copyrighted recording of it existed in the database, and the Israeli music
crooks don't know the difference.

I wonder what some poor schlep songwriter is supposed to do to get his work
known if nobody can play it without paying exorbitant license fees and going
through a complicated legal procedure. Isn't the point of writing a
successful song supposed to be that people should sing it, hum it, whistle
it, etc. What's next, that you have to have a license to whistle a tune when
you walk down the street? Is that considered a public performance? Isn't the
obvious result that most songs will be stifled into silence, unless the
composer has the legal savy and financial resources to license and promote
his work, which means finding others who are willing to pay the fees to
perform, broadcast or record his work, especially after he's dead?! This
nonsense can only strangle the life out of the music business and leave it
in the hands of a bunch of crooked lawyers.

When do we start the rebellion against this nonsense? I would write a
protest song, but I can't afford the license ...

Elazar
Doctor Jazz Dixieland Band
Jerusalem, Israel
www.doctorjazz.co.il
+972-2-679-2537