[Dixielandjazz] PD

[Jim Kashishian]

Everytime the subject of Public Domain comes up on djml, it makes for
interesting reading.  It usually doesn't serve for much more than that, as
one always comes out realizing what a mess it is.  I guess if you or your
family are on the receiving end of the royalties, it makes more sense to you
than when you have to pay it!
 
However, how many of us have ever had any particular problems with being
forced to pay?  
 
I do pay a flat rate to the society that collects & pays royalties here in
Spain when we bring out a new cd.  We never pay when playing gigs, although
from time to time someone from the same society will show up & ask us to
fill in the songs we played.  I understand that the clubs we play at pay a
flat monthly rate to the collection society.
 
The cd charge is curious as it is a percentage based on what we plan to sell
the cd for.  So, if you say you're selling price is 5 Euros, you pay a
percentage of that X the quantity of cd's made.  You of course can then go
out & sell them for 10 Euros each!  Anyway, that money is then split up
amongst all the composers listed on your cd, after the society takes its
cut, of course!
 
We had a misunderstanding on one of our cd's as I edited 3 songs we had
recorded in full & used just the first 32 bars of each song, making a nice
medley of three ballads featuring a different instrument in each ballad.  As
two of the "songs" then lasted less than a minute, I was told that the
instructions from the owners of those songs was they had to last more than a
minute.  I finally won, but trying to tell a secretary that a 32 bar song,
when played in full, is not breaking the song down, as long as it was the
full 32 bars played.  If we had played the 32 bar ballad at a slightly
slower tempo, it would have passed the 1 minute mark!  Until I finally
talked to a "boss" who just happened to have some music training, it was
like banging my head on a wall.  I finally was able to use the 3 songs in
the medley!!
 
I've never had any problems in posting videos on YouTube, etc., no matter
how short they were.  Anyone else have a problem with that sort of thing?
 
Jim