[78-L] copyright

[Kristjan Saag]

David Lennick wrote:

>> Let's  not ignore the large
>> percentage of the world that doesn't want to download  or wouldn't know 
>> how,
>> as well as a very sizable and sensible group that  would like to hear 
>> music in
>> the real world, in the car, in the living  room, and not on computer 
>> speakers or
>> things stuck in their  ears.
--
A downloaded tune can be copied to a CD, a cassette, a vinyl disc or a wax 
cylinder and played in your car, your living-room or in your museum, through 
loudspeakers or earphones. It's up to you how you want to use it.
High fidelity (or authentic surface noise) matters aside: the possibility to 
sell and buy music digitally on the spot, without delay, will, and I guess 
already has, vitalized interest in 78 rpm era music. Go to i-tunes: search a 
popular title that has been revived and you'll find dozens of the older 
recordings of it as well! You'll find Cab Calloway and Harry James offered 
and exposed with Diana Krall. When did that happen in your record store?
The downloads have changed the whole record industry, and have now affected 
the reissue niche and those of you who have put your efforts in it benefited 
from it. That's bad. But I don't think these conditions will last long.
Because the good thing is: digital downloads have made more music available 
than ever. Which, in itself, stimulates curiosity, openness, knowledge - and 
demand for more.
So why worry? There's a golden opportunity for serious music lovers, 
engineers, restorers, musicologists etc to bypass the petrified record 
industry and to do business themselves or with other operators. The 
alternative, which will take a few years more, is to wait until the industry 
has found new routines for distribution and retail, has started to earn some 
dough again and found the margins for reissue projects.
Meanwhile: let's download - and buy the CD's that are still there. I do 
both.
Kristjan