[HANASHIR:4116] Re: Universal Jewish Music License

[Ellen Allard <ellen...>]

I'd like to speak about something that Steve Brodsky brought up concerning
educating people,  especially when we are trying to get them to change a
behavior. 

How many of us have made tapes of recordings that we like? Is it okay to
purchase a tape or cd, and after having made the original purchase, make
copies of it to play in the car  or to give to a friend etc.? Or how many of
us have gone to workshops and collected sheet music that the presenter zeroxed
for us? Is it okay to give out zeroxed copies of lyrics but not of the sheet
music?  Where do we draw the line? 

My husband and I present a music workshop for early childhood teachers at many
secular educational conferences, after which we exhibit and sell our materials
(tapes, cd's, songbooks). If I had a nickel for each instance when a teacher,
standing at our booth, said to a fellow teacher, in a very audible
voice...."You buy that tape and I'll buy this one, and then we'll make copies
for each other" or "You buy the book and then I'll zerox the pages I want to
use", I'd have a  lot of nickels.  It's a very awkward situation, or at least
has been awkward up until we began taking somewhat of a stand around this
issue. And that's where the education piece comes in.  I don't believe that
people do it with any malice intended. It's just that it's been done for so
long, by so many people, myself included, with no questions asked, that we
think it's ethically okay, a non-issue if you will.

People will be slow to change, but we can help facilitate the change. One of
the ways we confront the issue is by talking about it at some point during our
workshop. Although certainly we hope our workshop particpants will purchase
our recordings and songbooks at our exhibit table, we don't take much time to
"hawk" them during the workshop. We make a very brief announcement about their
availability and answer questions anyone might have about them, but that's
about it. However, in the last year or so, we've taken a small amount of time
to ask people to be aware of the amount of time and professional training and
cost that goes into producing our materials. We come right out and ask people
to avoid making copies to give to other people. We explain that it is part of
our livelihood and that we rely on people purchasing their own copies. It is
very awkward and sometimes I feel like I'm sticking my foot in my mouth, but
we think it's a n important part of educating people.

I think this extends to our synagogues, to the places where we need sheet
music. For so long, it has been acceptable practice to make copies of music,
that we don't even think twice about it. Plus, how many institutions have
budgets that allow for purchasing individual copies of songbooks or sheet
music? Or how many of them have created budgets for purchasing these materials
because it is the right thing to do? Or maybe we might ask ourselves, how many
of us have made a point of confronting our institutions and talking about the
ethics of zeroxing copyrighted material? We all know that if we go to Staples
to make multiple copies of copyrighted material (unless we use the machines
ourselves), they won't make the copies. So, why is it okay for us to do it at
our temples? I'm guessing that most of us don't want to take the time to
confront our institutions AND we want to be able to teach the music without
the hassles. So, we make copies. Like we've always done.

The money denied the artist is certainly one issue. But there's also the issue
of the legality as well as the disrespect we pay to the artist by not
purchasing the materials. 

At the temple where I am thenew  religious school music teacher for grades 4 -
7, the principal asked the teachers to find two Jewish values with which to
guide our classes. The first value I've chosen is kavod, respect. I expect the
students to have kavod for the sanctuary in which we sing, for me as their
teacher, and for the music that I carefully choose and teach them. I know that
I also need to incorporate kavod into my life; to be a good role model for my
students. I want to have respect for all of the great music that we are
blessed with and for the composers who write it. Just exactly how does that
kavod translate and where will we each draw the line?

I applaud what Jeff has suggested and will do what I can to help educate the
people with whom I work and sing even if it does mean asking for help in
extracting my foot from my mouth. Thanks for listening.

Ellen Allard
Worcester, MA

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