Public Domain ??????

[bubinski]

What is public domain ? when doe's a song become public domain ? how can one record a song on a cd for sale and publishing ? Say I want to redo and record a couple of " old " songs written by someone else and sell the cd the are on ?
Is there a time period where its a free for all ?
enough questions ?
help.........

bubinksi " the village idiot ".

 

[Buck62]

This is my understanding...

A song becomes "public domain" 75 years after the writer dies.

"Public domain" just means that nobody has exclusive rights to the song anymore. That's why anything written before 1900 is public domain. (Classical music, Patriotic songs, etc.)
Now, if a songwriter dies, then his family can collect on mechanical licensing fees and such for another 75 years, if the writer actually owned the rights to his own songs.
Otherwise, the publisher continues to collect until the contract expires, then the family collects after that.

 

[Eurythmic]

I wonder how that works with, say, old bluesmen. I can't see myself wanting to butcher a Robert Johnson song by turning it into a New Wave dance tune anytime soon... But let's just say I did. Have they gone into the public domain?

And is that why RJ recordings are so dirt cheap?

 

[gec]

Happy reading eurythmic... let me know if you got any ?

http://www.pdinfo.com/