Copyright. and Value.

[squidgelet10]

Greetings each.

I have a set of 5 x 12" 78rpm records on the HMV label, of Rachmaninov playing his 2nd Piano Concerto with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. The recordings were made in 1929 and are in pretty good condition, playing well with just a little "hiss" and the occasional "pop"!

I have no idea of the value of this collection, although I do not want to sell it.

Lately I have been experimenting with Wavepad on the comp, and have committed the whole work to CD. There is no copyright warning on the record labels, so I want to know if I am breaking any law should I decide to advertise any of these CD's for sale.

Cheers.

[littleoldme]

Generally speaking, 78rpm records don't hold a lot of value unless they are extremely rare. With records, their value is based on either rarity or desirability to collectors. Few people these days have equipment capable of playing 78rpm records, so they are not seen as particularly collectable, other than by real enthusiasts of the format. Hence their value is diminished. That's not to say you're not sitting on a little goldmine, of course (!) but that's the general situation.

As for copyright, this expires 70 years from the death of the composer. As Rachmaninov died in 1943, I'm afraid you have seven years to wait until you are in the clear! The lack of a copyright warning on the records isn't relevant, as copyright of such a work is automatically vested in the author. Nobody is going to take any notice of you making CD copies for yourself before then (technically it's illegal, but the music industry pretty much accepts it as inevitable), but if you advertise them for sale in order to make a profit might get some unwanted attention from the authorities.

There's more about the current copyright law here:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19953297 _en_3.htm#mdiv6

[littleoldme]

Of course, I may be wrong. :-) Just noticed the next section relating specifically to sound recordings, as opposed to, say, live performances. Copyright on these expire 50 years from the date of release, so if your records are from 1929, you should be fine.

That'll teach me to try to sound clever!

[squidgelet10]

Thanks for that. You seem to know what you are talking about!!!!

I will have a look at the link you supplied, but at present have no intention of trying to market anything!

I am presently trying to locate a local music/record club/group which is sufficiently into the classical scene to be able to evaluate the result of my CD experiment.

Cheers.