copyright questions

Stackabones · August 2007

AJATango wrote:

believe it or not the berlin estate alone makes more!

I wouldn't doubt it, but $2mil is a tidy sum for one tune. I wonder how much the Berlin estate gets off "White Christmas"? It's probably staggering!

(Just read that Berlin was a founding member of ASCAP!!!)

AJATango · August 2007

truth be told ASCAP was formed to get cash for a few songwriter select.
read as Berlin, Gershwin and Porter

Ok there were a few select but, those founding members' families hold a tight reign on ASCAP's direction. Money talks.

djangology · August 2007

WIKIPedia says this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries'_copyright_length

28 (if copyright not renewed) or 95 years for works copyrighted 1923-1963; 95 years for works copyrighted 1964-1977; thereafter life plus 70 years. (Copyrights prior to 1923 have expired.)

So, for example, a song first copyrighted in 1934, could have had copyright renewed in 1962 and then the renewal lasts 95 years until 2057.

Or, another example, a song copyrighted first in 1920 could have been renewed in 1948, then lasts another 95 years until 2043.

By this measure, if Minor swing was copyrighted in 1918, then renewed in 1946, then the copyright might expire in 2041, 95 years later.

AJATango · August 2007

here's my issue with minor swing. it's not a song. it's an arpeggio progression. granted a cool one but, other than the final tag line, it's just not a melody (well maybe loosely) but, somehow it IS copyrighted. Go figure.

djangology · August 2007

Well, it actually does have a melody, every bit as much as Djangos Tiger does... its just a wierdness that we all consider the standard "intro" to the song to be the melody, which it isn't. i wish people would put more emphasis on the standard versions of the melody, of which there are 5 (2 of which are very similar to each other) , and so IMHO there are 4 versions of the melody that Django recorded

!!!! and so, assumingly, they wont expire copyright at the same time!!!!!

you are right though, its ridiculous to copyright a arpeggio. i would be suprised if that arpeggio actually were copyrighted.

AJATango · August 2007

right true there is a melody that starts AFTER the intro. it just doesn't seem to be what's regurgitated / covered as the tune minor swing.

I'd love to see a transcription and comparison of the versions.

djangology · August 2007

The transcriptions all exist and are floating around here on the internet. What I did was gather all 5 mp3s, sorted them by date , and then compared them and learned parts of them.

mitch251 · August 2007

Hi Dennis
Here is a list of PD tunes.
Good Luck
T
Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider
Bill Bailey
Frankie and Johnny
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland
Chinatown, My Chinatown
Some Of These Days
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Waitin' for the Robert E Lee
St. Louis Blues
12th St Rag
I Ain't Got Nobody
Poor Butterfly
Roses of Picardy
Indiana
Darktown
Rose Room
Smiles
After You've Gone
Jada
Somebody Stole My Gal
Alice Blue Gown
Baby Won't You Please Come Home
Dardinella
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
Mandy
Swanee
The World is Waiting for the Sunrise
Avalon
Japanese Sandman
Love Nest
Margie
Rose of Washington Square
Whispering
All By Myself
April Showers
Dear Old Southland
I'm Just Wild About Harry
I'm Nobody's Baby
Say It With Music
The Sheik
Ther'll Be Some Changes Made
Wabash Blues
Wang Wang Blues
Chicago
China Boy
Limehouse Blues
My Buddy
On the Alamo
Runnin' Wild
Stumbling
Toot Toot Tootsie
Way Down Yonder in N.O.

MichaelHorowitz · August 2007

jmcgann wrote:

Many books are available that use "a progession similar to 'Such and Such' "...and also many that retitle (often lamely) a set of chord changes and call it something like "All of Myself" or "October Leaves" or something like that, which is 100% legal since chord changes are completely exempt from the copyright law.

Hi John....actually, that's note entirely true. You can still get sued for just using the chord progression. There's legal precedence for that so you have to be careful. Again, it's best to get advice from an experienced copyright lawyer on all of this. It's extremely complicated, and if you make a mistake you can't just play dumb in court. I've spent an enormous amount of time getting the correct rights for all my books. It's best to do it right so you can sleep at night!

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