Music Copyrights

[mladair]

The recent thread on banjo tabs reminded me about somthing that I've been trying to get a handle on for some time.

I own several of Joe Ayers reproduction banjo instructions. First, I want to say that if it weren't for Joe reprinting these, I doubt we could be as far along as we are with authentic music. He has done an invaluable service for authentic music, and for helping to keep alive an almost "extinct" form of playing.

One thing that I found rather odd, though, was his copyright statement at the front of the manuals. Unfortunately, I don't have one available right now as I type. Basically, he says all reproduction, including electronic and even recording the music is illegal.

I have to question how he can claim this, especially the recording aspect. From my understanding, the tunes and the arrangements would essentially be public domain. I've thought about tabbing some of the tunes out and posting them so people can have access, but I don't want to get in trouble. I understand not being able to just photocopy the pages and nilly-willy pass them around.

Any copyright lawyer types out there that can answer these?

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Music Copyrights LONG

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. I just read what's written. We've had a brief and intense education regarding copyrights for our business the last few years, and it's been interesting!

He may have the legal right to limit recording of music that is played using his published versions of the songs.

From http://www.copyright.gov , the US Copyright Office:

From the FAQ:
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;

To prepare derivative works based upon the work;

To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;

To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and

In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

******

"Musical Works":
Musical works include both original compositions and original arrangements or other new versions of earlier compositions to which new copyrightable authorship has been added.

A long bit on musical recordings and the underlying compositions:
Choosing the Appropriate Registration
Copyright registration for a sound recording alone is neither the same as, nor a substitute for, registration for the musical, dramatic, or literary work recorded. The underlying work may be registered in its own right apart from any recording of the performance, or in certain cases, the underlying work may be registered together with the sound recording.

Jane Smith composes words and music, which she entitles "Blowing in the Breeze." Even though she records it, she is not interested in registering the particular recording but only in registering the composition itself. If she decides to submit "Blowing in the Breeze" for copyright registration, she should use Form PA (Performing Arts).

Emily Tree performs and records Jane Smith's "Blowing in the Breeze" after complying with permissions and license procedures. If Emily decides to submit her recording for copyright registration, she should use Form SR (Sound Recording).

The same principles apply to literary and dramatic works. A recorded performance of an actor speaking lines from "Hamlet" could be registered on Form SR as a sound recording. The claimant in the sound recording, of course, has no copyright in the underlying work, "Hamlet."

******

As I understand it, "copyright" involves two aspects: the actual copyright on the work, the the licensing rights to the work, which control how others may use the work. For instance, I hold a copyright on the physical patterns I design, the illustrations accompanying them, and the instructions I write for them. Further, I hold licensing rights that can restrict how others may use my work: they cannot use them for ready-to-wear sales of any kind, or make derivative patterns using mine as any base.

To be completely "safe" copyright-wise, you'd need to go back to original publications of the songs, and write your tabulations from those. Then you have done the research, you have done the writing, and the copyright and licensing right is yours to do with as you please: to charge for, to limit, or to publish on-line and give away for free.

You might consider approaching him for a writtern permission to write tabulations based on his published works, specifying you will be publishing them on-line (your tabulation only) with information on where the user should go to obtain a copy of his manual, etc for the complete song information (copyrighted). You would then be asking licensing permission for a derivitive work that expands his copyrighted work, and refer others to his work.

[Old Cremona]

Re: Music Copyrights

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

That's what it says in the copyright information of the Tuckahoe Music reproductions of early music books.

I may be wrong, but I'm guessing that Joe Ayers is not going to be upset with or prosecute the people recording or tabbing out the music that he made available to them. There aren't many genre's of music smaller than this one. I think that copyright disclaimer is just a formality.

Unless I'm completley wrong.

Carl Anderton

https://www.gumspringsserenaders.com

[georgewunderlich]

Re: Music Copyrights

You are not completely wrong. But it might help to understand how Joe was able to copyright music in the public domain.

The books Joe published contained his own writings. The introductory page was written by Joe. By adding this page the entire work is now different from the original and therefore he can copyright the material.

Usually it is hard if not impossible to copyright a reprint unless such a change is made. Our museum is going through this as we look to reprint original medical texts and manuals.

You can get a copy of all of the period manulas from either the L. of Congress of Brown University. I may also have copies of the original tunes you are looking for if you want to contact me directly.

[mladair]

Re: Music Copyrights

I thought it might be something along those lines, I just wasn't sure. It just stuck me as kind of odd claiming a recording copyright on music that I thought was essentially public domain. I found the exact same wording in a few other books that I was looking through this weekend. The copyright statement appears to be a standard, one-size-fits-all kind of thing.

While I'm a believer in the free flow of information, I still respect people's copyrights, so I won't be posting anything soon. That is until I can get over to the LOC with my camera to get my own versions of the originals! :D

Thanks for all the help!

[Daniel Partner]

Re: Music Copyrights

The tunes you are looking for may be found as original sheet music on the following site: http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/advancedsearch.html

These are not copyrighted.

Daniel Partner
American Music 1830-1865

https://www.danpartner.com

[cwmusicfan]

Re: Music Copyrights

Matt,
Greetings! Joe Ayers is a friend of mine. He taught me to play bones while we were in camp filming "North & South, Book II", in the a Fall of 1985. He also was playing a period banjo while I was playing an 1850's Martin guitar. Believe me, our focus is totally directed to the preservation and performance of correct period music.

There seems to be a question of what copywriting is doing. Virtually all of the songs from the Civil War period are in Public Domain. That means anyone is free to copy, publish or perform any of this music without having to pay royalties to anyone. Normally a copyright has to be renewed every 50 years. If not renewed, it is in Public Domain.

Similary to Joe, I havealso been involved in the publishng,
performance and recording of Civil War period music. I had a band together for 17 years called the "Rose Of El-A-Noy Minstrels." made 4 recordings on cassette tape made 2 of my own. I also published 2 different sngbooks that accompnied the tapes I made.

What you need to understand is that thei copyright notice, which I post also, is to prevent someone from duplicating the product you just put on the market in a finished form. One is just protecting the legitimat formation of the musicv/

This has nothing to do with the freedom of the music. It's all free! Just don't try to sell repros of my stuff. That's what these laws are all about.

Dan Cheatum

[Old Cremona]

Re: Music Copyrights

Dan,

Can you tell us what Joe Ayers is up to these days? Some say he's not active in the banjo scene any more, is that true? And no one ever answers the phone at Tuckahoe Music. I'd love to get ahold of the guitar primer he seems to have reproduced.