Re: Copyright Law and Jewish Law

[Eliott Kahn <Elkahn...>]

Thank you, Bob, for your sensible answer below. When it comes to photocopying 
music and books we all need to be reminded that it just doesn't spring out of 
the air, but rather, the inspiration and sweat of the folks who created it. We 
might now be witnessing the death of the recording industry because of the 
digital revolution. I make this analogy because it closely parallels the death 
of the music publishing industry that was created by photocopying machines. Can 
you imagine that here in NYC, once the home of Tin Pan Alley and countless 
legitimate (i.e Classical) music publishing houses, there are now only TWO 
(Classical) sheet music stores--by Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

Folks indeed do get what they pay for, and if a composer can't make a buck, 
there's probably far more valuable ways he/she can spend their time. Perhaps 
this might be the reason for the decline in musical quality in Broadway 
musicals: Do you really believe that Gershwin or Richard Rodgers would have 
worked in a field where they'd have to wait five years to put up ONE show? 
Can't buy an estate that way.

It might do folks well to remember that for all it's religious glory and 
grandeur, Michelangelo's ceiling and altar at the Sistine Chapel were 
commissions.  Financial support for works of art doesn't necessarily guarantee 
their quality (witness the fatuous French movie industry), but it certainly 
does guarantee that SOMETHING gets created.

Eliott Kahn


At 12:01 PM 1/8/02 -0500, you wrote:
>I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there are composers other than Fred who 
>would be delighted to have their music done for free, but I doubt that Igor 
>Stravinsky was one of them (even of his "Symphony of Psalms"). 
>  
>I wonder if the same argument would be be made by those in other fields (e.g., 
>plastic surgeons, professional athletes, sculptors).  I have heard some say 
>that they love their vocation so much that they would do it for free, but I 
>rarely hear stories of them turning down payment for their services.  (The new 
>mayor of N.Y.C. may be an exception.)  
>  
>My experience has been that people typically show what they value by how much 
>they are prepared to pay for it.  (No, I don't want to get into a list 
>discussion of dating practices.) 
>  
>As I understand it, the constitutional rationale for copyright laws is "To 
>promote the Progress of ... useful Arts."  
>  
>Perhaps it's a question of market economics and part of the solution is for us 
>to attend (and encourage others to attend) events of Jewish music, even if we 
>have to pay for it.  (As well as to sponsor, or encourage our institutions to 
>sponsor such events.)  It would be a pity if the only way to get paid for 
>making Jewish music would be to play a simkhe.
>  
>Bob
>  



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