J.A.W.

Well, that would be about all of them, wouldn't it? Universal and Sony together control all the Brunswicks, Sony has the Victors and the Okehs. What's left? gregmo There's the Durium, Cameo and Plaza recordings. (There may be more.) Someone on this Forum gave a complete listing and said-- IIRC-- that they were controlled by Sony. Unfortunately I've searched but can't find the thread. Cameo and Plaza were two of the labels that amalgamated (with Pathe US) to form ARC, so those are Sony owned. But Durium? I thought it was an Italian fifties label. MG Durium was the company that issued 'Hit Of The Week' records Ah, didn't know that. Thanks. So, which company owned it back in the day? MG MG Why not do a search on the internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durium_Records Oh, I see. So he didn't record FOR Durium; he recorded for Hit of the week and Durium issued the material in Britain. (I tend not to do searches (except for images to post, which is different) while I'm reading the board.) MG Well, the answers to questions like yours can be easily found with a quick search (in another window) that wouldn't interrupt your reading pleasure for more than a couple of minutes or even less

Not sure whether this is the original Atlantic/Rhino boxset, if that's an issue for you. Amazon are showing the label as "CLASSICAL". Nope, that's the recent reissue.

Well, that would be about all of them, wouldn't it? Universal and Sony together control all the Brunswicks, Sony has the Victors and the Okehs. What's left? gregmo There's the Durium, Cameo and Plaza recordings. (There may be more.) Someone on this Forum gave a complete listing and said-- IIRC-- that they were controlled by Sony. Unfortunately I've searched but can't find the thread. Cameo and Plaza were two of the labels that amalgamated (with Pathe US) to form ARC, so those are Sony owned. But Durium? I thought it was an Italian fifties label. MG Durium was the company that issued 'Hit Of The Week' records Ah, didn't know that. Thanks. So, which company owned it back in the day? MG MG Why not do a search on the internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durium_Records

I saw that and laughed and said I have to fix it. One way to fix it is to use the correct album title, which is Sweet Honey Bee, without the article "The"

Sorry to hear this. http://www.jazzwax.com/2013/08/billy-root-1934-2013.html

Yep. The tracklisting was there but has disappeared. I wonder why.

Those recordings never sounded very good, at least not to my ears.

In fact I do think this is the main point in what Bear Family actually does about "licensing" stuff. I can't put my finger on it but I remeber discussing this aspect in passing with one Bear Family employee at a record fair when the subject of the way they do their box sets came up. They pick their sources carefully and in a targeted manner and then cover those fields in full. It certainly is no coincidence they covered the MERCURY label's files in all fields of music THAT extensively. They must have made a deal at one point that they have free rein in the Mercury archives and files so they cover the entire field in great depth (I am not talking about jazz, specifically, of course). Makes sense if you are in the reissue field and have access to the source. Having access to original sources - which the public-domain labels clearly don't have - is exactly the point of making licensing agreements, and it's also the point I was trying to make but didn't explicitly mention. As I said there is a difference Difference of quality, no legal difference. We were talking about two different things all along. If I have the choice between releases that were taken from original sources or often much cheaper public-domain releases of the same recordings that were not, I'll always get the former, provided they didn't mess up the sound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMI_Music_Japan:

In fact I do think this is the main point in what Bear Family actually does about "licensing" stuff. I can't put my finger on it but I remeber discussing this aspect in passing with one Bear Family employee at a record fair when the subject of the way they do their box sets came up. They pick their sources carefully and in a targeted manner and then cover those fields in full. It certainly is no coincidence they covered the MERCURY label's files in all fields of music THAT extensively. They must have made a deal at one point that they have free rein in the Mercury archives and files so they cover the entire field in great depth (I am not talking about jazz, specifically, of course). Makes sense if you are in the reissue field and have access to the source. Having access to original sources - which the public-domain labels clearly don't have - is exactly the point of making licensing agreements, and it's also the point I was trying to make but didn't explicitly mention. As I said there is a difference

I meant that the connection you made with the EU 50 years loophole is an assumption (though it might be correct), not that indies contacted majors for licensing agreements.

That's an assumption, or was there some research done? I'm not saying you're wrong, there might be some/much truth in it, but it's still an assumption. Anyway, thanks for your explanation.

The major labels whined that there wasn't enough interest in fringe titles to justify manufacturing the discs and booklets. They could have chosen to license recordings to independents, just as they have done with vinyl reissue labels, such as Scorpio. You still haven't explained what that's got to do with the EU 50 year "loophole".

And how did that loophole present that opportunity exactly? I never knew there was a connection. Please explain.

That's also what I've been told. Agreed.

With the difference that the material that is released by Mosaic is licensed by the owners of the rights, public domain or not. That is not the case with public-domain labels. Those rights do not pertain in Europe, so it is the same thing. What I meant is that they not only pay licensing fees for material that is still copyrighted in the United States, but also for recordings that are in the public domain over there. In Europe licensing fees for public-domain material are paid by the German Bear Family label. There really is a difference in my view.

With the difference that the material that is released by Mosaic is licensed by the owners of the rights, public domain or not. That is not the case with public-domain labels.

Everything is said in my message: where can i find them cheaper ? I have known Jazz messengers for a long time and i do think they don't really need to be "PLUGGED" somewhere. Using Amazon would have been more neutral to you ? Come on... Felser, i do agree with you. I have bought almost everythin with them. That's why i do always refer to them. Victor got my point ! Big beat steve seems to have a american-centered view of the world. Lucky you if you're living in the USA and can get your box easily :-D Thanks. For your information: Big Beat Steve is from Germany.

Interesting post on the Hoffman board by someone I respect - he's a Charley Patton specialist: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/third-man-records-and-revenant-records-to-co-release-paramount-box-set.330080/#post-9436118

JSP, Proper, etc.

Well, you prompted the discussion yourself when you said that the Frémeaux Collection was legit But you're right, this has been discussed ad nauseam - and it won't be the last time, I'm afraid... Change of topic: who mastered the Frémeaux sets?

And also this regarding sound recordings: http://www.copyright.gov/docs/sound/

Just found this from the U.S. copyright office on the 'net: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html

Public-domain CDs like the Frémeaux Armstrong sets are legit in Europe, but not in the United States if I'm not mistaken.

Of course King Ubu was all tongue-in-cheek Well, I didn't get that ; as I said before I'm pretty naive when it comes to things like that. As for the rest of your post, I don't have any problems getting Japanese releases, even older ones; CDJapan and Amazon Japan are great sources. But perhaps I'm not your typical collector...