[pdb-discuss] Public Domain Elvis record charts at #19

Tue Aug 28 17:41:22 UTC 2007

Tim Cowlishaw wrote:
>  From Music Week:
> 
> Elvis records public domain first
> 28 August 2007 - 08:00:00
> 
> The debate over recorded copyright extension has reached the UK singles 
> chart for the first time, as a public domain Elvis Presley track has 
> this week charted in the Top 20.

And the prosecution rests.

OK, it doesn't. The resurgence of Elvis singles charting over the last 
few years has been *driven* by the pending expiry of his earliest 
recording copyrights. This has been the incentive of copyright doing its 
work both for society (who get to hear The King) and for the record 
company (who get a last hurrah financially speaking from work they would 
otherwise complacently leave deleted).

But now even public domain Elvis recordings can chart and make money.

Term extension would have harmed record company revenue (and social 
benefit) by disincentivising pre-expiry re-releases. And expiry has not 
harmed post-expiry releases if they are charting in the top twenty.

I'm usually a reformer rather than an abolitionist but this really does 
raise the question of whether copyright is entirely irrelevent. Is it 
the case that, as with patents, first to market advantage is enough? Is 
holding the master tapes the equivalent of owning the servers? What 
would DRM have added to the ongoing monetizability of Elvis?

Thankyouverymuch.

- Rob.