USA: New Copyright Law

[cnegrad]

USA: New Copyright Law:<br><br>Sonny Bono Term Extension Act Extends Copyright Terms<br><br>The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, signed into law on October 27, 1998, amends the copyright laws by extending the duration of copyright protection. In general, copyright terms were extended for anadditional 20 years.  <br><br>For works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection will<br>endure for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. In the<br>case of a joint work, the term lasts for 70 years after the last<br>surviving author's death.  For anonymous and pseudonymous works and works made for hire, the term will be 95 years from the year of first publication or 120 years from the year of creation, whichever expires first;<br><br>For works created but not published or registered before January 1, 1978, the term endures for life of the author plus 70 years, but in no case will expire earlier than December 31, 2002.  If the work is published before December 31, 2002, the term will not expire before December 31, 2047;<br><br>For pre-1978 works still in their original or renewal term of copyright, the total term is extended to 95 years from the date that copyright was originally secured.<br><br>There are additional provisions regarding sound recordings made before February 15, 1972, termination of grants and licenses, presumption of an author's death, and reproduction by libraries and archives.  For further information about these provisions, call the United States Copyright Office's Public Information Office, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern time, except federal holidays, at 202-707-3000. You may view this legislation at the Copyright Office Website:<br><br>http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislatio ... br><br>The Act does not restore copyright protection to any works that are in the public domain.

[dreamaiden]

Thanks cnegrad. Good info.<br><br>Sioux

[Raj_Sangeet]

I wonder if anyone would know how this DJ stuff works (no offense to DJs in IA community), in the sense they take songs and make some changes and add up in their CDs. What does an original artist gets our of it? So if I were to become a DJ, how should I reward the original artist?<br>Thanks!<br>Raj<br><br>P.S. Great post cnegrad!

[cnegrad]

These days, anyone "borrowing" a sample from another person's music has to go thru a clearing house, and play appropriate royalties to the original artist.

[Raj_Sangeet]

Hi Cnegrad,<br>What is clearing house?  :-/<br>Raj

[cnegrad]

I've never been involved with this stuff myself, but to the best of my knowledge a clearing house is a business (there must be lawyers involved) that you contact and say "I want to legally use a 5 second sample of [whatever] on my new cd. What will it cost me?"<br><br>Then they tell you what they'll charge, and you can decide if it's worth it to legally use the sample.... (This is an oversimplification, but that's the general idea.)

[Sharp]

Hi all.<br><br>I’d like to move this thread to the “Classic Threads” section, what do you think ?.<br><br>I could move it now, and you could all continue the conversation there, or would you prefer I leave it here and when this thread goes quite, then move it.<br><br>Good info btw:…<br><br>Regards.<br>Sharp. <br>

[cnegrad]

Fine with me. Go ahead and move it to Classic.

[Rob Sherratt]

When performing someone else's song or music in public, then a royalty fee should be paid to the copyright holder or to their designated agent. The administration of licensing and royalties is usually designated to an organisation representing performances in a particular country, or in a particular market sector.

Here are two examples of what is involved:

Example 1: Nearly all christian songwriters submit their copyrighted songs to the "Christian Copyright Licensing" organisation, or CCLI for licensing purposes. Churches take a single license from CCLI, the cost being in proportion to the number of people in the congregation. Each church keeps a log of which songs are used, and periodically sends the log in to CCLI. CCLI then work out the royalties to be paid to each songwriter depending on these usage records.

Further details on CCLI licensing here:

http://www.ccli.com/US.aspx

Example 2: I understand from colleagues in the USA that an organisation called "ASCAP" - The American Soliety of Composers, Authors and Publishers, is established to provide blanket licensing for performing someone else's song at a "gig" or via radio or TV in the USA.

Further details on ASCAP licensing here:

http://www.ascap.com/index.html

Best regards,
Rob