rdt1959

Uh oh. I am glad you said that, because I have been asked to due exactly that by some friends and family members.

I was going to do something with one of my purchased play along CD's, but know you have me looking over my shoulder so I will find something else.

__________________
Dick Taylor
Georgia
Comeback Player
Benge 65B

Tootsall

I think you are OK if the sound clips come from public domain literature and are done NOT using arrangements which are protected by copyright... not sure on that last bit.

If it's just yourself tootling away at a bit of Handel or Bach, then I can't imagine any of the recording studios (or those with vested interest) would care a whole lot. But if you were, say... playing "MacArthur Park" using an arrangement purchased from the "ABC Music Publishing firm", then I would think that perhaps our buddy Janet (wardrobe malfunction)'s brother, Mikey Jackson might have some concerns (since I believe he owns the copyrights to the Beatles music...). Perhaps someone "in the know" could comment on the "performance rights" in this kind of situation? In which case you would be expected to remit $0.00001 cent or some agreed to amount for every time someone listened to the clip!

HELP! IT'S GETTING DARK IN HERE! Noel? can you comment?

jamesfrmphilly

where i live everything is bootleg.
sorry to be the barer of bad news but the game is, in fact, over.

i think that someone had best come up with a new way of doing business
that will be fair to all.

having read all the arguments to the contrary, i still believe that when i buy that file i own it and i can and will do with it as i please.

I've collected recordings for most of my life and I've spent a large amount of money doing that.

I'm not going to accept limits on what i can do with my collection that i have paid quite good money for.

sorry.

__________________
1946 Martin Committee, Bach 5V

Seinman

When you purchased that music you agreed by default to be bound by the limits of the copyright. If the game "is in fact, over", then eventually there will be nothing more to copy, there will be no game.

lonelyangel

Hi James - its very sad that you feel this way, I am sorry too. It's true that you can do whatever you like with your files/CDs - if you don't mind breaking the law and facing the possible consequences. Not only the legal implications for yourself - which let's face it are pretty negligable - but also the moral implications if you can take the broader view (which seems to be something you are struggling with).

To be honest, I am very glad that you have amassed a large collection of recorded music over the years and I am sure you take great pride in your collection. Hopefully it will be a source of pleasure and inspiration to you and everybody you share it with for many years to come. It would be reassuring to think that at least a proportion of the money you have spent has found its way into the hands of the hard working, creative and talented musicians that have brought you such enjoyment through their efforts - rather than mainly going to line the pockets of the criminal 'bootleggers' who are motivated only by greed.

Wherever you happen to live it is simply wrong to say that everything is bootleg. You do have a choice as a consumer to do the right thing and obtain your music from legitimate sources even if that means paying a little more. If evrybody takes the narrow view ie. "whats mine is mine" and "I don't want to know where it came from or who I am hurting to get it" - then Seinman is right - there will be no more recorded music.

Fast forward 50 years from now and we'll be saying -"Say do you remember a time when people used to earn a living from playing the trumpet. People loved music SO much that they were actually prepared to pay good money to listen to it! Crazy times."

OK moving on. Guys you do not need to worry about photocopying music from a book to facilitate easier practice because of poor page turns. Copyright laws permit photocopying of segments of pieces for study purposes.

You also do not need to worry about public performances of pieces to raise money for charity with your community bands.

If you play at a venue where tickets are sold then that venue must have a live music license. Depending on the audience capacity of the venue the collection agencies will charge more or less money for the license. All this money goes into one big pot and is then distributed to the composers in proportion to the number of performances their works have received. It is the responsibility of the venue to log which pieces are played throughout the year. That's how it is over here anyway.

As far as photocopying whole arrangements goes - please don't do it. Not because of the legal reasons but simply because you are depriving musicians of their income. If people stop buying arrangements then publishing companies will stop commissioning new works by young composers and arrangers - some of whom are my talented and struggling companions.

For example Chappels of London (in association with Boosey and Hawkes I think) have published all the arrangements off the album 'Soho Stories' by The Dean Street Underground Orchestra written by my friend and colleague Tim Garland. The royalties that Tim receives and the success of that series of charts for the company - will prove to be a great inspiration to Tim to write more music for the band - which will lead to him booking me on some more recording sessions and live dates to promote the new album - which means that I can continue to support myself as a trumpet player and have the time to continue to practice and learn more about how to play the trumpet and be free to sit at my computer and help answer some of the questions you guys put my way from time to time - like Ed says - it can enable performing musicians to have a viable position in society.

All the best, Noel.

__________________
Noel Langley - Eclipse Artist noel@eclipsetrumpets.com

Eclipse Medium Yellow, scratch gold
Eclipse Medium Heavy Red, custom 'Diamond Back' in 24ct gold
Eclipse Red Brass Flugel
Custom Scherzer piccolo with copper Wedgewood bell, finished in scratch gold
Giardinelli 6S, 6M, 6FL Bach 3CW

jamesfrmphilly

look guys, it's over, gone, done and it's not coming back.

the way that we all lived is not going to be continued.

rather than worry about the old way you better come up with a new way
that will be successful and fair.

there are things that i miss from the past, but i don't go around trying to live in the past.

music and recording in the future will NOT be as it was.

__________________
1946 Martin Committee, Bach 5V

Tootsall

James, I think that you and I and Noel are all agreeing that things won't ever "be the same again". That's the nature of "change".... The "Pandora's Box" of the internet is now OPEN and as a global society we'd all better be working to adjust to it (and looking forward to the next step in the advancement of information technology!)

What we're HOPING for is that there will be an improvement... a simplification that ends up as a win-win-win for the artists, the industry AND the consumers. What we don't need are endless rounds of lawsuits, counter-suits, confusing and contradictory regulations and interpretations of regulations; the only folks who benefit from that kind of situation are those who get paid to ostensibly sort them out but who also are smart cookies and know that their bread is best buttered by a continuation of the confusion!

We need a simplification of the system that results in the PROMOTION of "live" music, the creation of new compositions, the distribution of artists' skills and training, and the fair payment for those works. THEN we'll see an improved demand for the artists' services and perhaps the entry of new musicians from grade school up into the "system".

Noel, (or anyone else interested in this thread) for what it's worth, our Community Band Society pays fees to something called "SOCAN" which is, I guess the Canadian version of the various organisations in other countries that collect performance fees. I believe we pay 3% of any gate "revenues" received; since our books are audited annually (as required of a non-profit society in Canada), the calculation is pretty simple. We don't raise any significant amounts of money through our concerts: we have to pay for a performance venue so the "gate receipts" are pretty much burned up by hall rental, poster and ticket printing, and advertising. Our operating costs have to be covered by our playing membership (all volunteers) and by any donations or grants that we are successful in snagging.