[pd-discuss] Music in the Public Domain

Mon May 7 19:06:47 UTC 2012

Maarten - I understood it differently. I thought that copyright still
applying to the lyrics, music etc of a recording made more than 50
years ago only restricted the covering of the song - not the actual
redistribution of the recording. ... (or else what would be the point
of the distinction between the recording copyright and the
lyrics/music copyright, and why all the fuss by The Beatles, Bono,
Cliff Ricard etc to get the copyright term extended?)

Rufus - any idea when this extension of 50 years to 70 years is due to
come into effect?

On 7 May 2012 19:29, Maarten Zeinstra <mz at kl.nl> wrote:
> Yes, you cannot freely distribute the song unless all layers of copyright
> have expired. Outofcopyright.eu has the following to say about sound
> recordings (in the UK) that are public domain:
>
> "Copyright in the sound recording has expired. Please note that a single
> item might be protected by multiple layers of rights. You may need to apply
> the Public Domain Calculator again to examine whether additional rights
> apply, such as copyright protection in any underlying literary or artistic
> work or performers’ rights in any performance that may be fixated in the
> sound recording."
>
> So this deals with the lyrics, sheet music, artwork, etc.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Maarten
>
> Kennisland | Knowledgeland
>
> t +31205756720 | m +31643053919 | s mzeinstra
> www.kennisland.nl | www.knowledgeland.org
>
>
>
>
> On May 7, 2012, at 19:07 , Sam Leon wrote:
>
> Thanks for the responses guys. I'm still trying to get my head round all of
> this.
>
> @Maarten -- do you mean to say that one is not free to redistribute a
> recording if the authorial copyright has not expired? This would render any
> song written by Sister Rosetta Tharpe not in the public domain.
>
> However, the song that I linked to ("Down By The River Side") and many
> others recorded by Rosetta Tharpe are traditional gospel songs, so this
> shouldn't matter too much even if it turns out to be true.
>
> Sam
>
> On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Maarten Zeinstra <mz at kl.nl> wrote:
>>
>> Also,
>>
>> Even if the recording is in the public domain, does not mean that the
>> lyrics and notes are in the public domain. You do not have the rights to
>> distribute a song where only the recording is public domain.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Maarten
>>
>> Kennisland | Knowledgeland
>>
>> t +31205756720 | m +31643053919 | s mzeinstra
>> www.kennisland.nl | www.knowledgeland.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On May 7, 2012, at 17:17 , Rufus Pollock wrote:
>>
>> > On 7 May 2012 16:10, Sam Leon <sam.leon at okfn.org> wrote:
>> >> Dear All,
>> >>
>> >> Quick question -- copyright for musical recordings made within the EU
>> >> expires after 50 years, but what about music that was recorded in the
>> >> US?
>> >
>> > Origin does not matter. BTW in the EU it will soon be 70 years due to
>> > the recent extension.
>> >
>> >> Are, for instance, Sister Rosetta Tharpe's US recordings from 1948,
>> >> available on the archive.org, available for free re-use within Europe?
>> >
>> > Yes - though IANAL etc. Also remember songs have both recording and
>> > authorial copyright in them.
>> >
>> > There used to be a long FAQ about all of this on, I thought,
>> > publicdomain.okfn.org based on our analysis of all of this for Elvis'
>> > That's Alright (done back in 2005-2006) but I'm not able to find this
>> > right now.
>> >
>> > Rufus
>> >
>> >> Advice much appreciated, as I'm due to be curating some of this amazing
>> >> vocalists songs for a website in the coming weeks.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks,
>> >> Sam
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Sam Leon
>> >> Community Coordinator
>> >> Open Knowledge Foundation
>> >> http://okfn.org/
>> >> Twitter: @noeL_maS
>> >> Skype: samedleon
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Co-Founder, Open Knowledge Foundation
>> > Promoting Open Knowledge in a Digital Age
>> > http://www.okfn.org/ - http://blog.okfn.org/
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>
>
>
> --
> Sam Leon
> Community Coordinator
> Open Knowledge Foundation
> http://okfn.org/
> Twitter: @noeL_maS
> Skype: samedleon
>
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--
Adam Green

Editor, The Public Domain Review
http://publicdomainreview.org/

The Open Knowledge Foundation
http://okfn.org/

-- 
Adam Green

Editor, The Public Domain Review
http://publicdomainreview.org/

The Open Knowledge Foundation
http://okfn.org/