garham t. The condition of the master tapes isn't all that much of an issue here. If they have degenerated to the point where they have become unuseable (unlikely, I'd have thought), I have nearly all the Leader LPs. IE. the ones which showcased traditional musicians and singers, as distinct from revivalists who were released on the Trailer label. I have no interest in the latter.

The Leader LPs I have are all in good condition, and good remastered copies could be produced from them. The odd items I don't have could doubtless be furnished by other people.

Again, as I keep telling people, the commercial value of the catalogue is virtually zero. Nobody is going to make money from reissuing it. However, its cultural worth is in my opinion, beyond estimation.

The problem is that an enormous mess surrounds the question of copyright. IE., nobody seems to know who owns what. Therefore, the logical thing to do would be to contact all interested parties, which would presumably be Dave Bulmer's widow, Bill Leader and whoever now owns Bulmer's business, if such a person exists, and ask them to waive any rights they might have.

Regarding royalty payments, if I become involved in any attempt to reissue the catalogue, it will be on the clear understanding that royalty payments will be made to the performers, or to their descendants, or failing both of these to some suitable charitable cause; EG., it would be impossible to pay royalties to all the people who performed on 'A People's Carol' but the money could presumably still be put to good use.

Payment of royalties on the terms I've just set out is in fact a cardinal principle where Musical Traditions releases are concerned. Therefore if Rod Stradling can do it, so can anyone else.