Re: [ARSCLIST] 78's and PD, was Curatorial Responsibility, formerly Copyright of treasures

[Karl Miller <lyaa071@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 7 Oct 2005, Steven C. Barr wrote:

> Because virtually all artists on 78 (especially before 1943-4) were
> paid a fixed fee to record, the recordings were/are considered "works
> for hire" and as such all the rights belong to the party who did the
> paying unless a contract states otherwise (which seldom happened in
> those early days).

Which brings up a further complication...a musician friend of mine was to
make some recordings with orchestra, in Europe. The deal was financed in
part by the agent...the artist was not pleased with the results and yet
the agent claimed it was "for hire." It turned out that the European
courts were supportive of the notion of artists' rights even in this
situation where a case could be made for the notion of "for hire." The
recordings were not issued. On the other hand, the artist would not have
had a claim to any payment beyond the original agreement.

Karl