Disklavier

I don't mean to pick on my friend, George, either.  He certainly has more
intellectual property out there than I do! It is hard to comprehend all the 
little intracies of laws influenced by wealthy special interests.  In the 
case of the shame of the
1997 revision of copyright law we have Sony and Disney to thank for much of
our American musical heritage not entering the public domain.

I sometimes think the reason Classical music is so often performed and 
taught is not that it sounds so great, but it is free.  I grieve the loss of 
many of Gershwin's works getting that same opportunity, as well as the music 
of the 20's, 30's and 40's.  It is a shame the world will suffer this loss 
just to keep Mickey Mouse out the public domain.
My personal protest is that my grandchildren have had little to no exposure 
and no
interest in anything Disney. My wish is that by the time Disney music 
finally enters the public domain, several generations of my descendants 
could care less!

There is a difference between private and public use.  Copyright and 
licensing agreements acknowlege this.  Our Disklavier group is a small 
community of people who have to join the group to have access to the files 
section. Those performance files were placed there by the artists for our 
enjoyment and not profit.  People play these files on their home 
Disklaviers.  Let's not pre-empt our freedom to enjoy these gifts of music
by fear of what might be.

As a piano tuner, I will admit that I am a bit peeved when I see
copied sheet music on pianos that were distributed by the kid's music
teacher.  I think students should buy the piano lesson book.  I realize
there are copyright exceptions for teaching use of material, but I don't
know where the legal line is.

Basically, we need to use common sense.  What we play in our homes is one
matter.  What people make money off is another matter.  If we worry about
all the possibilities of what might possibly be illegal for our private
musical enjoyment we just add to the list of intrusions that others would
have invade our private homes and lives.  Whatever happened to the land of
the free and the brave?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Carol Beigel

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "George F. Litterst" <PianoBench@...>
To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2010 4:55 PM
Subject: Re: [disklavier] copyright


Good afternoon, everyone.

I don't mean to pick on my friend, Carol, but I would like to clear up a few
issues. In doing so, my interest is not in defending the law but merely
describing it.