•Matthew Caulfield mentions that there was no Federal copyright protection for music rolls during the 1920s. That has always been my understanding too, but I would like to point out a contradicting item during that period. Perhaps someone can offer an explanation. The Imperial Player Roll Company se...

•[ Ref. "Copyright Warning at YouTube" -- I believe it was The Disney Corporation that lobbied Congress to extend the period before songs became public domain because Disney didn't want it's songs "out there". The problem, of course, for we who love the music traditionally played on automatic musica...

•I am writing this not as an attorney but as a reasonably informed layman. I have addressed some of these points before in the MMD, but here I will try to be comprehensive, focusing particularly on United States copyright and on musical composition copyright. In the U.S. Federal copyright law was em...

•The U.S. Supreme Court decided 7-2 today that under U.S. copyright law, electronic publication, of works previously published in print, constitutes a revision of the original print edition. This means that newspaper and magazine publishers must obtain permission from free-lance authors to re-publis...

•[ Ref. "Pirated Piano Rolls" in 120605 & 120607 MMDigests Regarding Mr. Caulfield's questions about revisions to copyright as they pertain to player rolls, perhaps I should have been more clear. The copyright law itself was changed in 1909 to provide copyright protection for composers of musical wo...

•[ The article below, reproduced in its entirety, was published [ in Music Trade Review, June 29, 1912, page 29. Ref. [ http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1912-54-26/MTR-1912-54-26-29.pdf [ Case citation: [ Aeolian Co. v. Royal Music Roll Co., 196 F. 926 (W.D.N.Y. 1912) INVOKE COPYRIGHT LAW TO PROTECT...

•Copyright 1998 by Arthur A. Reblitz. All rights reserved for future publication by the author. The first commercially-produced Seeburg jukebox was called the "Autophone," introduced in May 1928, at the same time as the new "Greyhound" piano with "whippet race" mechanism. In July 1928 they changed t...

•Copyright records show these (partial) data for the first tune: I Miss My Swiss, My Swiss Miss Misses Me; music by Abel Baer; published May 25, 1925. Barcelona is a pretty common title, but I think the one you want is this, first published as a one-step, later several times as a Spanish 6/8 foxtrot...

•Copyright and Abandonment I am not a lawyer, but I've hung around with them far too long talking about patents and copyrights. One's inability to find or contact a copyright holder in no way invalidates a copyright nor conveys any right to ignore the copyright. Owners may abandon their rights, but ...

I checked the Copyright Office card file on "Fig Leaf Rag." There are two registrations one for "Fig Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin punlished Feb. 24, 1908 by Stark Music Printing and Pub. Co., New Yrok; the other for "The Fig Leaf; rag and two step" by W.R. Lawrence, June 7, 1909, with claimant Wm. R. L...

•Ideas cannot be copyrighted, only ideas that have been "fixed". Since the advent of songwriters and songs in general, the definition of what is "fixed" has involved less and less notes put down on paper. Copyright allows the concept of "derivative works", but only with permission. Creating a deriva...

•The official copyright title is "A Hot Time in the Old Town", (C) 1896 by Hayden and Metz, but everyone knows it by the words of the last line of the refrain. Sheet music images may be downloaded at the Lester S. Levy web site, http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/advancedsearch.html At http://nfo.net...

I have been following the discussion concerning copyright issues ever since it started. Back in November I complained about the confusion concerning the determination of whether a song is copyrighted or not. These discussions cleared up a few points for me. Thanks to all who contributed their knowle...

Here's what light the copyright registration (as an unpublished tune, by the way) sheds on Bullshevicki. The title, exactly as registered, is "Bull-sheviki; wild rushin' one step." Composer is given as Ivan Kenbrockovitch; arranged by William C. Polla (violin). The tune was registered March 20, 1919...

•In reference to the ongoing discussion regarding copyright, and the playing of copyrighted pieces in public, a few things come to mind. The first is the distinction between "public performance" and "public performance for profit". I wonder how, for example, my junior high school band handled the AS...

•Bryan Cather wrote: > In reference to the ongoing discussion regarding copyright, and the > playing of copyrighted pieces in public, a few things come to mind. > The first is the distinction between "public performance" and "public > performance for profit". At least in Germany, this distinction is...

•I am seeking information on the ownership or control of the copyright of the book, "The Complete Catalog of Ampico Reproducing Piano Rolls," by Elaine Obenchain. I have attempted to run down several what appeared to be very good leads, and all have ended in dead ends. It is my considered opinion th...

•Tom Lear was looking for the words to the song "Please" copyright 1932. I found the lyrics on QRS roll #5941 and sang along with Terry Smythe's MIDI file. The words definitely match the music but there are a couple refrains on the Imperial roll and a few more verses that are not on the QRS roll. To...

•[ Ref. Copyright Warning at YouTube, 13704 MMDigest ] In his letter from the U.K., John Page says, "Buying a roll gives you the right to own the recording but not the right to its public performance." But what about band organ rolls and coin piano rolls like Styles A, G, O, H, et cetera? These were...

•I am helping a stamp collector to research the colourful musical copyright stamps found on music rolls such as those for the player piano and Aeolian Orchestrelle [player organ]. I am trying to find what the highest values used were and as many different publisher names as possible. I am particular...