Re: Copying old records

Denis Murphy <dmurphy139[_at_]aol.com> writes:
>
> A nonprofit organization wants to clean up, restore, enhance, and
> reissue several hundred scratchy vinyl records of Eastern European
> folk songs originally bought in the 50's and 60's.
>

.. . . .
>
> Question: Is there anything the organization can do to ensure that
> it can proceed with this project without fear of nasty legal surprises?

If you absolutely cannot locate any copyright owners, and push comes to shove, claim fair use. Purpose of the use is non-profit and, I assume, preservationist. (While preservation of artistic works isn't one of the fair uses delineated in the statute, the list in the statute--introduced by the phrase "such as"--is illustrative and should not foreclose uses like this that are akin to scholarship or research.) Nature of the copyrighted work? Old folk music recordings that may be lost to the ages if *not* reproduced in a newer, more lasting medium. (Cf. silent film restoration.) Amount of the work? Well, this goes against you, as you are duplicating entire songs and recordings. Effect of the use on a potential market for the works? While you may, in fact, be *creating* a market for these works by reproducing them, it is clear that no market will exist for them at all if the existing copies are simply allowed to degrade beyond the point at which they would continue to be salvageable.  Plus, the demand/market for this type of recording is likely to be limited to ethnomusicologists, world music aficianados, and Eastern Europeans seeking to hold on to their musical roots. They aren't going to be "gold" records. So, in light of the fact that no preexisting market is being supplanted, and the commercial exploitation of a new market is going to be limited by the inherently narrow, largely academic appeal of such recordings, this frequently dominant fourth fair use factor should be outweighed here by the first and second factors.

Of course, if these records don't carry any copyright notices, or were created prior to 1963, they might very likely be in the public domain, obviating any need for permissions or a fair use analysis.

Make a good faith effort to contact any rightsholders. Failing that, make your use! Liability seems highly unlikely.

Matthew Watters
Copyright Clearance Specialist
Copy Services Department
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588-0513
(402) 472-4663
Fax: (402) 472-2144
e-mail: watters[_at_]prtaxp.unl.edu Received on Tue Apr 15 1997 - 14:08:33 GMT