Re: [ARSCLIST] Old tape rights- was "Country discovery is reel find"

[Steven Smolian <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>]

If the material was broadcast (and rights cleared for this purpose) and, at
the time, it was not illegal to make copies off-the air, and you have the
tapes from which they were broadcast, I assume these can be sold with no
rights.  And not from dubs of those tapes, just the actual objects.  After
all, if it's legal to purchase and own them, it should be legal to sell what
you own- again, with no rights.

Steven Smolian

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Clark Johnsen
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 12:25 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] "Country discovery is reel find"

All the thoughts expressed in this thread so far, had occurred to me as
well. Low budget, lo-speed or no, these tapes would seem to deserve better
treatment. It's just another example of folks going off on their own without
careful researching. "Hey! I know this guy with an old tape player and he
used to work in Nashville!"

I was wondering if anyone in ARSC might care to get in touch with these
people and put a kind arm around their shoulders.

Moreover, what of the legal implications? My friend John Marks, himself a
fine recordist and label owner (JMR Records) and prolific writer on audio
topics (Stereophile) -- and an attorney! --  sent me this to share:

Fascinating.

However, the article significantly under-estimates the intellectual-property
tangles that may arise.

Let's say that the PA system contractor for the Warwick Musical Theater
surreptitiously (there's no other word for it) recorded live shows by Rat
Pack and Hollywood Golden Era performers plus Liberace, and 500 reels of
tape were found in a barn in West Greenwich, RI.
Arguably, the purchaser buys a bunch of plastic film on reels in boxes, and
not even the right to listen to them privately... . No "mechanical"
royalties were paid for that specific "use." If RIAA is pursuing parents
when a kid downloads 11 songs, why is there a safe harbor for pirate
recordings of 1200?

Next, assuming you deal with the "mechanical" right issues and even the
performers' estates, what about the venues?

In my hypothetical, I'd expect the venue to say, we are involuntarily your
partner, you thief, but equal partners nonetheless...

Fee free to pass on to your list.

ATB,
JM

On Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 9:09 PM, Scott D. Smith
<lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Quoting Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> <snip> I would suggest that budgetary issues were paramount here.
>
> Probably true, but given that pretty decent 1/4" recorders can be had for
> under $1000.00 these days, that doesn't seem like it would be much of a
> stretch, given the material at hand. If they are truly thinking of going
to
> auction with these recordings, my guess is that they'll fetch a great deal
> more than $1K.
>
> Ignoring the issues of reproduction quality, it just seems to me that
tapes
> like these deserve at least to be treated with some care. Lacing them up
on
> an old Pioneer (which was never known for it's tape handling anyway) isn't
> exactly what I would call a great preservation strategy.
>
> WTF, with this kind of approach, maybe I should haul out the old
> Magnecords! They sure did rewind fast!
>
>
> Scott D. Smith
> Chicago Audio Works, Inc.
>
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