Copyright question

Subject: BS: Copyright question
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 09:53 AM

How do I find out if a particular work is still under copyright after 27 years?

Subject: RE: BS: Copyright question
From: GUEST,999
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 10:29 AM

1) What's the song?

2) Who wrote it?

3) This belongs in the music section.

Subject: RE: BS: Copyright question
From: EBarnacle
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 10:29 AM

After 27 years, it is still under copyright. I believe that the current law states 75 years from date of first production. A new arrangement with some word changes, however...

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: DonMeixner
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 10:52 AM

Kendall,

Harry Fox is a good place to start but Ebarnacle is correct.

Don

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 11:20 AM

PDF from L.O.C. here - go to page 5, right hand side.

Works after January 1, 1978, to paraphrase:
From the moment of its creation to 70 years after the author's death.

There's more to it than just that, and I'd suggest reading the material.

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: GUEST,999
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 11:23 AM

Might point out that although the copyright remains with the author for that period of time, if the writer was under a contract with a publishing company when the song was published, the copyright may in fact be with the publishing company. Som'thin else to consider. FWIW.

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 11:44 AM

It's a film/DVD of a Robert McCloskey children's book that I narrated 27 years ago. Weston Woods decided that an actor did a better job of talking like a Maine fisherman than I did, but they gave me a copy of the film with my narration.
I'd love to grab the copyright and give them the bird.
70 years is too long to wait.

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 11:48 AM

I think you can do it as a derivative work, but I think your first step is finding out who holds the copyright now.

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: DonMeixner
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 11:50 AM

Kendall you probably sounded like a game cop.

D

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: GUEST,Songbob
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 12:14 PM

You are the copyright holder for your performance. You don't change copyright for the book itself simply by reading it aloud, but you do get ownership of your own performance -- it's like recording a Bob Dylan song (in Kendall's voice, you'd hardly know the difference anyway). You would owe a 'mechanical royalty' (I think it's called) to the publisher of the book, but that's just a money thing, not an ownership thing.

Then again, you would have to work out how to compensate the makers of the film, wouldn't you? Hmmm... and if you did the work for hire, then you may not cleanly own your own performance. I'd open negotiations with the film-makers to issue a limited number of copies of the film with your narration in place of the actor they hired, and pay them a royalty, just like if you recorded that Bob Dylan song I mentioned. (As an aside, which Bob Dylan song would you record, if you had to record one?)

I don't know how mechanical royalties work in the world of films, since one can't normally 'perform' a film. But as the performer of the narration, I'd think you would have some standing should you want to reissue the film on your own. Who knows? The makers might just like having the film reissued (at no expense to them at all) and become 'current' again. The sales wouldn't be high, I'm sure, though you'd have a number of Mudcatters anxious to buy it. If you approach them correctly, you might get a "why not?" response.

But my guess is that the makers of the film would be the ones to approach, not the writer or publisher of the original book. If you get the filmmakers' okay, you'll probably have to include a few shekels for the book's creators as well, but that might just be subsumed in the royalty to the filmmakers.

Then again, what do I know? I'm just a musician/singer/bureaucrat/citizen/uninterested observer.

Bob

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: GUEST, RIchard Bridge on 56k
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 12:22 PM

US law differs a lot from everywhere else and copyright is territorial.

However the UK has just decided that copyright infringment takes place at the server (although an infringment by authorising the download might take place where the download is received) so if a copy of your narration is made outside the USA (Sweden has wide personal use laws) and then uploaded to an EU based server for streaming only, you might have a leg to stand on. I'm not guaranteeing a win, but it's something to think about.

The other angle is that your contributor agreement for your narration might not hold water to vest the rights in your narration (not the same thing as what you narrated) in jurisdictions outside the USA.

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: EBarnacle
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 02:56 PM

Fair Use has just taken a blow due to the Sarah Palin Decision a few days ago. Be vewwy careful.

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Nov 10 - 01:23 AM

Which story was it, Kendall? I've enjoyed a number of Robert McCloskey stories, but his Homer Price stories are favorites. I've read them all out loud - but not with a Maine accent.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Copyright question
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 24 Nov 10 - 07:24 AM

Burt Dow Deep water man

I'd make you a copy if I wouldn't get into trouble. I wrote to them asking permission to make a few copies for my friends but no answer yet.