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Re: [ARSCLIST] Edisoniae--was: The Incompetence at ENHS
It's true that the vast majority of Edison recordings have no marketablity today, only historical value. Edison did record a very small number of jazz artists. Dave Sager hipped me to a San Francisco (?) band who made some Edison sides (can't remember their name). Most famous are the two sides made by Fletcher Henderson's band on November 23, 1923, Shake Your Feet and Linger Awhile. Even these jazz sides have very limited appeal these days, the Hendersons only being available on the European Classics label.
Given that Edison films and recordings have been available on the internet for many years and there has been no legal action of any sort, it seems unlikely that any problems will be forthcoming in the future. As with Grey Gull, if there's nobody interested in protecting the copyright, then no legal action will take place and the items can be said to be de facto public domain, even if they are not, strictly speaking, legally so.
James
All personal opinions. Not a statement of Library of Congress policy or practice.
>>> stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 10/29/06 10:41 PM >>>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger and Allison Kulp" <thorenstd124@xxxxxxxxx>
> I don't know the history of how the recordings got
> into the hands of McGraw/Hill,in 1956,someone could
> enlighten me here.Why didn't they just put the
> catalogue,on the market,and let some other label
> reissue the stuff,and make money off of it ?
>
McGraw-Hill acquired the remains of Edison mainly because the
Ediphone dictation recorder was still a saleable item...as well
as because the company owned other still-valid patents relating
to various electric appliances. In 1956, it was 27 years since
the last Edison record had been issued...and since Edison had
virtually no jazz nor blues in its archives, it was assumed
that any reissues therefrom had little if any commercial
potential.
The market for "old" recordings had flourished (to a limited
extent) in the forties, but was limited to "classic" blues
and jazz performances (which Edison never recorded).
Steven C. Barr