•When it comes to personal, non-profit hobby use, I don't think that I've violated the spirit of the copyright on my web site. Yes, the majority of the songs I have recorded and placed on my web site in RealAudio format are copyrighted beyond 1923 (or whenever the cutoff date is), but where I knew a...

•Robbie, Carl Lampie has suggested I ask you this question about copyrights. If a person wanted to have rolls cut for any of the different instruments, what is involved in finding out about copyright limits, etc. I am referring to old time Christmas music. If such a roll is produced, can duplicates ...

•> ... what is involved in finding out about copyright limits, etc. You will find information in US government documents if you do a search on "copyright". Basically, it lasts 70 years after the death of the owner or originator, but there are provisos for works that have been written but not yet pub...

•[ Ref: 1908 Copyright Case "White-Smith vs. Apollo", 011120 MMD [ Ray Finch replied to Matthew expressing his thanks. ] You're very welcome. If this thread continues on MMD, or there is any interest in hearing more, I am thinking of writing a follow-up to MMD about "Practical approach to legal issu...

•A few days ago I read with great interest, and later with much frustration, the information that Matthew Caulfield brought to light about the vague copyright issues in relation to non- and mechanical music issues. While his subject concerned the public domain and later concerns of the musical score...

•This is how I explain this complex subject to friends. The issues include (1) composer copyright, (2) arranger's or performer's copyright, and (3) publisher's format copyright. Suppose I publish a piano roll of my performance of "St. Louis Blues"; the song has passed into public domain so composer ...

•Tim, What your are describing in your posting to 011121 MMD involves the question of performance royalties which might be owed to the copyright holder of the original composition (or arrangement) that underlies the music recorded on a roll or tape, or CD, or phonograph record. When you run a sound ...

•I think Dean Smith started this thread with his post of 01.11.16. His reference to Carl Lambie and the post that followed about calliope leads me to thinking he is considering producing an A-roll from a MIDI file. I think a lot us have dabbled in making paper rolls and MIDI files to play on our ins...

•Just to enrich this discussion about copyrights and who owns what. My attorney tells me that if you alter or otherwise change a musical composition, you now have the rights to it and can copyright the new version if you wanted to do so, even if it is based on some other work. It is now a new compos...

•I am not a copyright expert, so, in very simple language, what Play-Rite claims a copyright on is their copy of a Wurlitzer roll. For example, if you take a photograph of the Mona Lisa, then you own your photograph copyright but not the original Mona Lisa. Play-Rite owns their "photograph" of the o...

•There was a discussion a while back about mechanical music copyright issues. I have had recent communications with the Harry Fox Agency which lead me to believe the current law is a bit different from what has been stated in the past. Apparently (I'm no lawyer), sometime during the last decade, Con...

•In trying to understand the history of U.S. Federal copyright law, one has to consider the two major copyright acts governing copyright during our lifetime: the Copyright Act of 1909 and the Copyright Act of 1976. The 1909 law did not allow for copyrighting sound recordings such as piano rolls, but...

•Vincent Morgan asked: > One of the members of our Lady Liberty chapter of AMICA has composed > a piano roll and is interested in having it copyrighted. How does > he go about doing that? The U.S. Copyright Office has a web site at http://www.copyright.gov/ It says, "How to Secure a Copyright - Copy...

•The roll reader would be very handy machine to have around, but there are some cautions that have been pointed out to me, concerning copyrights, that should be considered. It wouldn't be wise, nor of good taste, to copy a roll that is still in production. There are thousands of out-of-production ro...

•John Tuttle's post about copyrighted material in the MMD was very interesting. In some of the posts that I have done in the past, people from various organizations and associations have written me and asked if they could use my material. I agreed because as I stated months ago I feel that the purpo...

•One of the members of our Lady Liberty chapter of AMICA has composed a piano roll and is interested in having it copyrighted. How does he go about doing that? Vincent Morgan, New York City

I have seen various references to copyrights and would like to know if anyone can clearly define what is the current protection period of copyright for published music. In particular, what is the cutoff date on old player piano and similar material. At what point in time can royalties be terminated?...

Thanks to Matthew Caulfield for the information on copyright. His comments point out how complex the whole issue is and the need to proceed with caution. One small correction to his posting; Wurlitzer was purchased by Baldwin (not Steinway). Wurlitzer pianos are built by Baldwin (also, some are impo...

In the 11/20 digest Marc Fontana wrote: > My only concern is the copyright issue... would Wayne have > to prove each song to be in the public domain in order to > distribute it this way? This is a serious issue with me. How does one find out that a selection is in the public domain? Can one rely on ...

On 96.11.23 Andy Latorre asked how to determine whether a song might be copyrighted. There is an agency whose sole purpose is to compile all the songs copyrighted in the U.S. To learn more, contact: The Harry Fox Ageny 205 E. 42nd St. New York, NY 10017 212-370-5330 One note of caution, I contacted ...