Bravo! It is good to hear from someone who can remind other musicians and scholars how much time, work, and expense is involved in producing a good edition!
GJC Date sent: Tue, 02 Dec 2003 17:16:59 +0100 To: Michael Thames <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Copies to: Lute Mailing List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: albertreyerman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Facsimeles etc. > Open letter to Michael Thames > who announced to place a TREE facsimile edition to the wwweb. > > from Albert Reyerman, TREE EDITION > > Dear Mr. Thames, > > first of all I would like to correct you: in the BACH/Weyrauch > facsimile edition the copyright notice is printed on the very first page > (in 24 point Times Roman, big enough not to be overlooked). It reads: > Copyright 1999, TREE EDITION, Albert Reyerman > > Now to your plan, to place a Bach/Weyrauch facsimile edition on > the Internet: I have nothing to say against that, as long as you place > YOUR facsimile edition and not MINE. > > To make your own facsimile edition I´ll give you some information: > fly/drive to Leipzig (from my hometown Leipzig was 400 miles away), go > to Städtische Bibliotheken Leipzig Musikbibliothek Leuschnerplatz 10-11 > D-04107 Leipzig > > Ask the head of the library (Dr. Brigitte Geyer) for permission > to make a facsimile of the Bach edition and to publish it. > If you are of good reputation and experienced in making facsimiles > of sources of such value, she possibly agrees. In my case she did. > Bring your own computer, software and scanner ( I brought my big > AGFA T2000XL scanner, cause the original manuscript is so big in > size that it does not fit to an A4 or legal format scanner. The street > price of the Agfa scanner is about 10,000.- US $. Hopefully you have > something good as this). > > Than scan the ms. Cause the ms. has few pages, It will take you > only about one day or two, if you are an experienced operator (the ms. > has light brown ink on a yellowish paper. Difficult to scan). At home, > with your publishing software ( I use Adobe Pagemaker and Adobe Acrobat > Professional) you can layout the book on your PC/Mac system and make a > proper edition of it. > > You can avoid going to the printer, have the book printed. > You can avoid, going to the book binder, to have the edition binded. You > can avoid, to make some advertising around the world. You can avoid all > these things I had to do, cause: you place YOUR facsimile edition to the > internet. > > But again: place YOURS and not MINE. > > About fairness: > I know very well that we both are living on different parts of this > world. But I have been to the United States often enough (about 20 times > or so within the last 25 years) to know that the American people as well > as the European people are exactly aware of the difference between YOURS > and MINE. No discussion about. > > If I misunderstood you and you are not talking about fairness, > but on applicable laws: my lawyers on copyright matters are > > Zipse& Habersack > Dipl. Ing. Joerg Habersack > Patentanwalt > Kemnatenstr. 15 > 80687 Munich > Germany > > They are highly approved and can answer all your questions. > > But I would like to count on your fairness. Thank you in advance. > Please excuse my poor english. > > Albert > > Albert Reyerman > TREE EDITION > Finkenberg 89 > D-23558 Luebeck > Germany > > TREE EDITION is registered trade mark > European Patent Register No. 1 038 427 > > > By the way: > I drove to Leipzig exactly 40 times in the past 9 years. > They have 40 lute mss/prints and the gave me only one source at a time. > (The biggest source was the DLUGORAI lute book. It has 600 pages. I > worked on that book for 4 weeks fulltime). Now I have scanned all > Leipzig lute sources. The 40 facsimiles are not all yet published in > print. But they will be, one after another. I promise. > > Albert > > > Michael Thames wrote: > > > Let me state my intentions, and I will take all viewpoints to heart > > in = > >the matter. I would like to put these unedited facsimiles That I bought > >= from Tree publishing on my website for free downloading, as well = > >transcribe a version for guitar. Nowhere in the edition does it say = > >anything about copyrights etc.and there is absolutely no editing, just > >= Xerox copies of the original Tablature, period. > > In the Dowland MS manuscript project, ( see link ) they state, = > >they bought the rights to publish the manuscripts, and now they are = > >public domain, and are free to download. They got together 25 people > >to = chip in and buy the rights. Now, in theory is it not the same > >thing Tree = did? They most likely paid money, to get the rights to > >publish and SELL = the facsimiles. If I bought the Facsimiles for > >$25,00 could one assume = that I've fulfilled my part to Tree > >publishing by chipping in and = helping them to obtain rights to make > >these public domain, as well as = assisting them in there ability to > >sell them. In a way, it seems like = capitalism at it's best and > >worst. =20 > > Like many of you I download lots of music, But I also love to buy > > = > >nice editions, of the very pieces I've downloaded, and will continue to > >= buy nice editions, whenever I come across them. Last week, I bought > >the = complete lute works of John Dowland, even though I could download > >90% of = that for free. The challenge for publishers, is to take this > >music = which is basically available to all, and arrange it in a nice, > >= informative fingered edition, then, they can make some money. Not to > >= continue to stiff us on unedited facsimiles that require no more > >skill = and expertise than to press a button on a camera. I recently = > >bought...Lessons for the lute, by Anthony Balies & Anne van Royen = > >because there's a well thought out, gradual approach to playing thumb = > >under, and lots of info. on the pieces etc. I very much appreciate > >what = Tree does, don't get me wrong, and will continue to buy their > >editions, = but on facsimiles? > > =20 > > http://cbsr26.ucr.edu//wlkfiles/Folger/DowlandMS.html > >Michael Thames > >Luthier > >www.ThamesClassicalGuitars.com > >Site design by Natalina Calia-Thames > >-- > > > > >
