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Copyright Status of Old Music Rolls
By Hal Davis

Let me suggest that anyone interested in making copies of any
copyrighted material write to the U.S. Patent Office and request
information on copyrighted materials.  When I was making rolls back
in the late 1960s and early 1970s I was surprised to find that the
conditions of copyright had changed and copyrights before a certain
date had expired and unless renewed were in the public domain.

It's been many years ago so I can't immediately recall the dates
involved, but I seem to recall that nearly all copyrights issued prior
to 1934 were expired except in the very few cases where a new copyright
had been taken out on the material.

Hal Davis

 [ The U. S. Copyright Act of 1976 changed the old laws, partly due
 [ to pressure from the recording industry in USA and abroad.  See
 [ http://mmd.foxtail.com/archives/KWIC/C/copyright.html  -- Robbie


(Message sent Sun 18 Dec 2005, 23:19:43 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.)

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