Vinyl Record Copyright

[engla001]

What is the name of your state? Alabama

Back in the 40s & 50s my grandfather was a little known country music singer. He as going to go professional in the 50s but Rock 'n Roll came out and he decided against it. After he retired in the 70s, he went on tour again regionally. In 1977 he cut a record on 'Davis Unlimited Records' in TN. Now, 35 years later the family is down to only 2 records that work and I want to preserve my grandfathers album. I wanted to take one of the records that works and have it re-mastered digitally and have a CD pressed. There is no copyright printed on the record or album cover, and the record company has vanished without a trace, so I do not know if it was formally copyrighted. The songs on the album were either written by my grandfather or were in public domain. Can I have this album re-mastered and pressed to CD as long as I am not selling it? Also, is there a way I can file for copyright of the album?

Thanks

 

[soccer00kid]

Does your grandfather have any living children? If so they "share" the ownership of the copyright. If he doesn't or all the children are dead then you and any other grandchildren would "share" the copyright and you all would have to agree to get it copied. If he has children alive it's their responsibility to do it because they own the copyright together.

Even though your grandfather never registered with the copyright office, the work is still copyrighted I think. But don't hold me to that. You can search through the copyright laws by visiting the copyright web site, you could also try calling the copyright office and just telling them your situation and ask what you can do. Can't hurt, their telephone number is on their web site. The address is http://www.copyright.gov/

Good luck!

 

[divgradcurl]

soccer00kid is partially right. Your grandfather may or may not have sold the copyright of the songs he wrote tothe record company; if he did not, then they would be transferred in probate like any other property. However, the record company, and not your grandfather, would have owned the copyright to the sound recordings, that is, the songs on the record. Whenever you have a record or CD, you are deleaing with 2 copyrights -- the copyright to the song itself, and the copyright in the sound recording. These can be, and often are, owned by two different entities.

If your grandfather passed copyright of his songs to you, then you could record them yourself, or pay someone else to record them for you. However, making a copy of the record -- even if you own the copyright to the songs themselves -- would violate the copyright of the sound recording.

To be completely safe, you would need to find out where the assets of the now-defunct record company ended up. However, if the company truly "vanished without a trace", and all you want to do is make a single remastered CD for yourself, then there probably wouldn't be any problem. If you want to try and sell copies of the remastered CD, then you may find that the copyright owner finds YOU...

Two things -- first off, in 1977, there was no longer any need for a work to be marked with a copyright symbol, so the lack of a copyright notice gives no indication as to whether the work is public domain or not. And second, you cannot "re-copyright" something -- only the creator can copyright a work (and note that a copyright exists as soon as the work is created, "fixed in a tangible medium"), and then the creator can sell or otherwise assigbn any or all of the rights under copyright. If a work has passed into the public domain, there is no way to reacquire a copyright. The only way for you to get a copyright on this work would be to contact the current owner of the copyright and buy it from them -- if the work somehow ended up in the public domain, there is no way to get it back under copyright protection.

 

[hexeliebe]

Write to the Country Music Hall of Fame here in Nashville. Even if the company has vanished, they would be able to point you in the right direction.

Also, from the little you've told us about the company, it sounds like it may be a 'vanity' studio. If so, it owns nothing. A vanity studio is one where you would pay for going in a cutting a record...not a studio (or record company) where you would submit your songs and the company would pay for studio time to cut and then release the music.

Before you do anything, make sure you know what type of company this was. Then, if it was a vanity studio, you have family issues to deal with. If it was not, then you will need to see if the company assets were purchased by another studio or if any heirs to the company exist and if they own the assets.