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copyright questions

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  • Posts: 597
    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!!!)
  • AJATangoAJATango New
    Posts: 110
    truth be told ASCAP was formed to get cash for a few songwriter select.
    read as Berlin, Gershwin and Porter :D

    Ok there were a few select but, those founding members' families hold a tight reign on ASCAP's direction. Money talks.
  • djangologydjangology Portland, OregonModerator
    Posts: 1,018
    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.
  • AJATangoAJATango New
    Posts: 110
    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.
  • djangologydjangology Portland, OregonModerator
    Posts: 1,018
    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.
  • AJATangoAJATango New
    Posts: 110
    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.
  • djangologydjangology Portland, OregonModerator
    Posts: 1,018
    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.
  • mitch251mitch251 marylandNew
    Posts: 70
    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.
  • MichaelHorowitzMichaelHorowitz SeattleAdministrator
    Posts: 6,152
    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!

    'm
  • AJATangoAJATango New
    Posts: 110
    perhaps sued for saying that it's the chord progression, of said but, chord progressions are no copyrightable. such a law suit would fail
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