recording questions

[Alex Jacobowitz <Alex_Jacobowitz...>]

B"H Basle, Switzerland

Andy,

Yes, there ARE different organizations responsible for this permission, but
it's a bit complicated
depending on what kinds of music you intend to record and where.

Generally speaking, you are playing two different kinds of tunes: those
that are registered with
a responsible agency, such as ASCAP (in America) or GEMA (in Germany) or
some such;
and those that are not. 

1) A piece "written" by Dave Tarras, for instance, and registered through
ASCAP, would be protected
by law. Therefore, if you wanted to play this piece on your CD, you would
have to pay ASCAP 
the standard fees (based on the length of the piece as a proportion of your
CD's total length). 

2) Pieces that are *not registered (protected) by such an organization are
fair game. 
"Traditional" Jewish music (Hava Negila, for instance) is something for
which you won't have to pay.
Since there is a statue of limitations, which might range from 50 years
(America) to 70 years 
(Germany to 25 years (Japan). After this time, the piece would enter into
the "public domain", 
after which you would no longer be required to pay royalties to the
composer.

Since most klezmer music is (I imagine) either unprotected
(composer/arranger) or already
in the public domain, you will be largely free from the legality of paying
royalties, 
depending on your CD's program.

If there's any doubt, send a list of your projected pieces to ASCAP (or a
similar agency) and they
should be able to tell you whether or not the piece is "protected" by them.

FYI, if you're using someone else's *arrangement, the same statues of
limitations applies.

Good luck, in any case.

Alex Jacobowitz