superbad wrote:
Copyright used to expire a certain amount of time after the creator's
death (I think it was 70 years), but Congress (at the prodding of
lobyists from the MPAA and RIAA) has continually expanded that to the
point where works created today have essentially unlimited copyright.
It was driven by Sonny Bono and the behest of the Disney Corporation
because Mickey Mouse was about the move into the public domain.
The RIAA was probably there too, but it was Sonny's work.
The RIAA ghost wrote the evil DMCA law, which is probably
worse for society, but that is a separate issue. I believe
that depending on ones reading of DMCA, exposing the Sony/BMG
rootkit was illegal.
And there are two separate copyright holders on a recorded piece if
music: the performer and the author. If I record an album of public
domain traditional songs, I stll have copyright over the recording.
Actually, the author has copyright of the song and lyrics.
The performer has separate rights. The recording is
covered as a "phonorecord" which is signified with a (p)
and covered by a separate section of the law.
Interestingly, it is not illegal to hire a group of musicians
and singers to record a 'cover' version of a song that sound
exactly like the original recording as long as you pay
the publisher the fee for their rights. You can't claim
that your new group is "The Beatles" but you can
make the song sound identical and use it in advertising,
etc. See Confessions of a Record Producer, 2 Ed: How to Survive the
Scams and Shams of the Music Business by Moses Avalon.
Of course, one can never tell is "Moses Avalon" is telling the
truth or not. It could be all fiction.
--
Pat
http://www.pfarrell.com/music/slimserver/slimsoftware.html
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