Re: Copyright Law and Jewish Law

[Lionel Mrocki <amrocks...>]

The band was recently asked by a local film maker if we would permit the use of 
small section of one of our recordings.  Unfortunately the film was a low 
budget thing and no payment could be made for the use of our track.

My answer...

When that film maker can find me a supermarket where I can buy my groceries 
free of charge, a doctor who will see me and my family gratis, and a petrol 
(gas) station that doesn't charge for me to fill my tank, then he can have the 
fruits of my labour free!

I realise this is a little different from the copyright issue, but it seems to 
me that since "free to air" radio and television came on the scene, the general 
public has become powerfully and deeply accustomed to getting music free.  Of 
course broadcast royalties are paid through advertisers on those media, but to 
the consumer, there's no cost.

Having become used to hearing the music free, what's the difference between 
downloading MP3s or copying CDs bought by a friend.  It's seen as a victimless 
crime, and one so common and inconsequential (in punitive terms).

In Australia,  artists (especially) performing artists rank as the lowest paid 
of all professional groups, and musicians are at the lower end of the income 
scale of that sector (according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996 
Census).  When one corrects for the enourmous incomes of a few top artists, the 
average musician is being paid a pittance.

It seems that our highly specialised expertise, years of learning, and 
investment in our tools of trade are valued little by the bulk of people in the 
wider world.

The biggest insult for my band came when we found that a jewish library had 
taken our CD (which we'd donated to them) and copied it to cassette, photopied 
the CD cover (reducing the picture) omitting vital liner notes and 
acknowledgements to make a liner for the cassette case and was loaning these 
cassettes out to library members!

I dunno if any of that was relevent...  Maybe I just needed to let off steam.

(P.S. in the end, the film maker paid up so it was worth drawing a line in the 
sand.)


Lionel (S'iz shver tsu zayn a musikant) Mrocki

"The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is probably the day
 they start making vacuum cleaners." -Ernst Jan Plugge

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Eliott Kahn wrote:

> 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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