Re: [disklavier] Uploads
2000-04-15 by Barb and Barry Dubner
Awesome effort in clarifying this issue. THANK YOU. Barry
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----- Original Message ----- From: "Todd Muncy" <disklavier@...> To: <disklavier@egroups.com> Sent: Friday, April 14, 2000 10:38 AM Subject: Re: [disklavier] Uploads > Let's put this copyright issue to bed, once and for all. I spent a little > time (expensive) with a lawyer and got some guidance for this group, that is > more than anecdotal. Here we go: > > DON'TS > Do not upload or otherwise share copies midi files that are sold > commercially. These would be copyrighted performances, which are, and > should be, patently illegal to share. If you want it, buy it. > > GRAY AREA > Public domain performances of copyrighted songs, made available for free on > open web sites is a gray area, yet to be resolved in court. The Harry Fox > Agency (representing the composers of about 55% of copyrighted songs) has > been attacking these sites with scary letters from lawyers threatening > lawsuits for huge amounts of money. Since virtually none of these sites > make any money, they aren't in a position to fight the legal battle and cave > in. That is why the supply of this type of midi file has dried up > dramatically as a result. Many of the good ones left are outside the US. > > WHY WE ARE OK > The whole reason this group got started was because of the sudden lack of > web sites with popular music midi files. Most of us have built up some > decent collections over the last few years, invested time in screening, > editing, balancing volume levels, etc. A vehicle to share this material > amongst ourselves did, and still does, make a lot of sense. There is a well > established exception to the copyright law, which entitles people to share > free private performances of copyrighted material with their friends. > Although there are no absolutes with lawyers and courts, my legal beagles > say that they see no problem with this group qualifying under this exception > since it is a small members-only club swapping public domain performances. > The song copyrights should not be an issue if we are not charging each other > for the files. It is also unlikely that Harry Fox will ever stumble across > our site, because you need a member's password to get in. Their notorious > web crawler programs can't get in to scan us. Even if they did attack us > legally, the worst case possibility is that they would convince egroups to > shut us down. In that event, I keep fresh email membership lists on my hard > drive, along with a mirror image of the vault. I could set up another group > with a non-musical name (bagel-lovers@egroups.com), restock the vault, and > pre-enroll all current members in an hour or two. With about 225 members, > we are large enough to stop soliciting members on DUG and elsewhere and > remain extremely low profile. > > The current plan is business as usual, but stop drawing attention to > ourselves on DUG. Any questions? > > Todd Muncy > disklavier-owner@egroups.com > Check out my family web site. > It contains some fun disklavier stuff. > http://MuncyFamily.com > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <jwelsh2141@...> > To: <disklavier@egroups.com> > Sent: Friday, April 14, 2000 8:14 AM > Subject: [disklavier] Uploads > > > > Hello all; > > > > I have posted my rendition of Ebb Tide to the Popular piano folder. > > > > However, after reading many of the older posts on this site, I find > there > > is some concern over copyright issues. I Have no idea if this song is > still > > under copyright. If it is I guess it will have to be deleted. > > > > Thanx > > > > Jim > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Free E-Cards, Screensavers, and Digital Pictures! > > Corbis.com: > > http://click.egroups.com/1/3358/2/_/156037/_/955714489/ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > To Post a message, send it to: disklavier@... > > > > To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: > disklavier-unsubscribe@... > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > 25% Off All Prints! > Buy one today at Corbis.com > http://click.egroups.com/1/3357/2/_/156037/_/955723155/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To Post a message, send it to: disklavier@... > > To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: disklavier-unsubscribe@... >