Public Domain labels...more questions. Long

[wolff]

Does anyone know some of the the inner workings of these labels?

A purchase I made yesterday and the Johnny Hodges Mosaic FS thread got me wondering, again.

On the CD's, do they note their source? Do they say anything about the material being public domain?

Do they note the original LP/CD title/label and catalog number? If not, does anyone know why?

Can I assume, if I do not see 'licensed from' and it's not from original label it's a public domain re-issue?

Are there any laws(other than the 50 year limit) regulating these labels?

Could I issue, for example, A Best Of Blue Note 1950-1954 on my own label if I lived or sold it in Europe?

[brownie]

Could I issue, for example, A Best Of Blue Note 1950-1954 on my own label if I lived or sold it in Europe?

Wolff, you would not have any problems with using 50-year and older material in Europe but you might run into trouble if you used the Blue Note name and logo on whatever you would release.

Copyrights for these still remain valid and are not in the public domain.

I am sure Claude - and others - will have better information on the questions you raise. Just can note that Chronogical Classics CDs usually list the original source from the material they pick up.

And I don't recall having seen the term Public Domain mentioned in any of the reissues I have seen here.

[wolff]

Thanks, Brownie.

I find the public domain issues interesting, if not troublesome.

I see now how this will be a good thing to the many consumers, but I do not think it's for me.

It could get very confusing. So much info could be missing from the PD re-issues. Original liner notes and credits, for starters.

I like getting single albums or CD's and having all the info right there. Box sets are ok if they are fully annotated and easy to follow.

I do not want to look up where the songs come from(original album), where and when recorded, etc..

As I've mentioned before, I'm worried the original labels will loose shelf space and thus income, and any incentive to re-issue the material again. I see it happening already. My local store had a ton of PD re-issues and little from the original labels like Blue Note and Verve.

[Claude]

Could I issue, for example, A Best Of Blue Note 1950-1954 on my own label if I lived or sold it in Europe?

As far as the copyright on the recordings is concerned, this would not be a problem.

But there would also be trademark issues involved. Blue Note (EMI) owns trademarks on Blue Note word marks and logos and can prevent anyone from using them as a trademark. Trademark protection can be renewed endlessly.

On some Definitive releases, the original label is mentionned in the title of the CD: "Complete Blue Note Studio Recordings" (Clifford Brown). In that case, it can be argued that "Blue Note" is only used to indicate the nature of the product. Just like an independant car repairer can indicate in ads what brands of cars he repairs or what spare parts he carrys, without asking permission to the trademark owners. If Definitive used the Blue Note logo or issued a "Blue Note series", this would be considered trademark infringement, because it is more than just indicating the nature of the music.

The criterium for infringement is that the consumer can be mislead by the use of the trademarked word, thinking it is a CD from the label who owns the trademark. I don't think that's the case with the Clifford Brown disc and other Definitive CDs.

But a "Best of Blue Note" compilation would be much more problematic, because the word Blue Note is used so prominently.

The cover art and liner notes of all Blue Note releases are still protected by copyright, so they cannot be used.

All other discographical data can be freely used, with the exception of complete and detailed discographies which could qualify for database protection (a special copyright-like protection introduced in the EU ten years ago).

Edited August 17, 2004 by Claude