Re: Sharing music on the net

[JCommHaznM <JCommHaznM...>]

This is in response to Cantor Jeff Klepper's posting to this group:

>But let's be honest and
>recognize that we all 'xerox' and dub, simply because the technology
>enables us to do so, and thus it has become part of our culture, a way that
>songs now travel from one place to another, very much like "folk songs"
>used to do. 

While the above statement does hold some truth, it does not make it right 
or legal. In our society, just because "everyone" does something does not 
make it right or lawful and this includes the transfer of copyrighted 
music from one person to another, one person to a group, or through any 
other means except when it is purchased. 

>There *is* a moral problem, however, in sharing copyrighted words or music
>on a public forum like this.  The solution is simply to post a message
>asking anyone who can help you to email you privately, and do your sharing
>"off line".

I am also not an attorney, but after working for and working with music 
publishers both in the Jewish music and secular worlds, trasnferring 
copyrighted material is illegal, no matter if it is to one other person 
or to twenty other people and simply not doing it in the open and 
"offline" does not change that law. If you want to share with a friend, 
great! Sing together, play together and learn together, but take the 
music and/or recordings home when you have finished sharing and encourage 
your "friend" to purchase the sheet music or recording just as you have 
done.

>As we all know, learning music from a printed page is tricky, for sheet
>music lacks the nuance and feeling of a sung performance.  The printed
>music does tell you how the composer intended the music to be sung (at
>least most of the time). It *is* important to know if you are singing a
>piece of music accurately, allowing room for your own artistry and
>interpretation. 

Learning music is defintely enhanced by not only looking at and 
understanding the work on the printed page, but also hearning other's 
interpretations of that work. That is why we teach these songs and use 
them in our classrooms, our synagogues, our camps, and our other 
organizations and we should encourage everyone that we share our music 
with to not only enjoy it at a kumzitz or at camp, but also via recorded 
media and the printed page.

>In the
>Jewish music field, rarely does the money for a book, tape or CD go into
>the artist's pocket - it goes to defray the huge outlay of money needed to
>produce it in the first place.

This statement is very true and even MORE of a reason not even to 
consider swapping printed music or recordings with a friend or friends. 
>From the late 19th century and until the mid-fifties Jewish music 
publishers, artists, and recording labels were many and varied. Today, it 
is probably generous to assume that there are perhaps 10 or fewer 
companies that print, record, and sell original Jewish music - 
Transcontinental Music Publications, TARA Music, and a few others are all 
that is left of the once booming market for Jewish music.  If we continue 
trading and copying and recording material as we are doing in huge 
numbers now, it won't be long until these companies as well may not be 
able to function.

B'shalom,

Michael O.