Posted on 04/10/2009 11:40:57 AM PDT by a fool in paradise
...However, there's another type of site engaging in copyright infringement, in a far more defensible way. These are the whole-album bloggers, the modern-day cratediggers who post records long out of print, and so obscure as to have barely existed. These blogs democratise record collecting, making the arcane – Turkish prog, Italian soundtracks, Puerto Rican 45s – accessible to all.
The cratedigging bloggers think their posts are on solid moral ground. "If an LP is out of print, there are no sales to be affected, so no one suffers any losses," says Smooth, of My Jazz World. "If the industry cannot keep this music in print, then bloggers like myself have to fill the void."
Posts often lead to renewed interest in forgotten artists. Thanks to these blogs, "a number of smaller labels, notably those specialising in free jazz, are finding a market that was simply not there five years ago..."
They also, perhaps paradoxically, keep the collectors market vibrant – "If 500 people download an album from 1981, and there is one for sale for €200, then my blog has probably been instrumental in selling it," suggests 433rpm...
Of course, what the cratediggers are doing is technically illegal, hence their anonymity. But there's a real vehemence from the cratedigger brigade towards blogs that post new and readily available material: "I hate those blogs, they're the true death of the music industry..."
Despite the questionable legality, savvy labels are starting to see the opportunities from these exhumed artists. 433rpm's championing of Dutch punks the Rondos, and Pittsburgh industrialists XX Committee, led to reissues of their material. Soul reissuers Wax Poetics have advertised on My Jazz World, although Smooth says the likes of Universal and Sony are still reluctant: "They cannot fight on one side what they support on the other..."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
In some cases, copyright was never renewed and the works are now in the public domain.
Also, there exists a sizeable industry of grey market repressings of out of print albums (on CD and vinyl) and there has been for over 30 years. That is something that sells someone else’s work without consent. The internet sites discussed here do not charge for the recordings.
And as to that $200 ebay album... the artist, the label, and the songwriter see none of the proceeds of sales of original copies of out of print albums on the used/secondary sale market. (exception being some small garage band that kept a dozen copies of their high school disc and are informed as to what prices their little single brings today, say $800 for a 45).
http://www.manzanera.com/QuietSun1.htm
ping
What’s funny is that the RIAAMPAAWMPABCDEFG or whatever they call themselves....Don’t go after non English websites. I’ve discovered several Spanish,Russian and a few Portuguese sites that have full albums of old American 60’s groups....and in 64kHz to 96kHz, sometimes even greater.
Copyright should be for max 15 years with registration required at a nominal fee. After that renewal every 10 years required at a nominal fee, maximum four renewals. Current registered copyrights are considered registered at the time the law is enacted for renewal purposes. Ten years is also the latest after enactment that a non-registered work can be registered in order to not lapse into the public domain.
Enact it now, start the clock ticking now. We will see a flood of public domain works in 10 years and we will have completely eliminated the issue of orphaned works.
It’s interesting to see how the internet has lengthened the marketing “tail” on any given product.
I love Phil Manzanera. His mid-70s albums, especially 801LIve and Diamond Head, are great. And so is Mainstream!
I have mainstream loading now. A classic prog rock LP
Someone once upon a time pointed me to a pianoroll museum website and a group who wrote a piano roll to MIDI converter program. I downloaded several hundred old pianorolls from the heyday of the player piano.
http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/09/01/05/0224202.shtml
http://www.iammp.org/rolldatabase.php
http://www.trachtman.org/rollscans/RollListing.php
I’ve seen at least one new turntable product that has as its function the transfer of LPs and 45s onto digital media, using a USB cable to the computer.
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