Naxos looses on NY's court.
<text removed from Gramophone's website>
In a legal decision that could have major repercussions for the recording industry worldwide, the New York State Court of Appeals has said that Naxos of America infringed copyright by issuing remastered 1930s recordings in the US.
Capitol Records filed a suit in 2002 on behalf of its subsidiary EMI Classics, claiming that Naxos had illegally distributed restorations of 1930s recordings by The Gramophone Company (now EMI Classics) in the US. These included Yehudi Menuhin’s performance of the Elgar Violin Concerto and Edwin Fischer’s performance of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. In 2003 a New York court had found in favour of Naxos.
In the UK, where copyright on recordings lasts for 50 years, these recordings have already come into the public domain. However, the appeals court maintained that they are still covered by copyright in the US, where copyright generally holds for 75 years. It said that the disputed recordings are covered under New York state law (recordings made after 1972 are protected by US federal law).
While the case will undoubtedly have immediate impact within the classical music business, it is already the subject of concerned discussion in other genres, not least pop music, where such treasures as Elvis Presley’s early recordings are fast approaching their out-of-copyright dates in Europe.
Richard Lyttelton, president of EMI Classics, said: ‘This decision also brings into sharp focus the inadequacy of the term of copyright protection in sound-recordings in Europe. With modern technology, national copyright boundaries become harder to defend, so there is now more than ever a compelling argument for harmonisation of worldwide copyright terms.’
In a statement, Naxos said: ‘If allowed to stand, this decision will have a deeply negative and harmful effect on all the reissue labels which for many years have made valuable historical recordings available to the general public that are not or are no longer available from the original copyright owners.’ Naxos said it is considering appealing to the US Supreme Court.
Anastasia Tsioulcas, online US correspondent
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That is just sad from EMI. Sad, sad, sad. Ok, decade of 30 plus 75 years of copyright = 2005-2015 for expiration dates and they file a law suit in 2002? Isn't that just to make some out of them while the time permits?
I have a 1936 recording of Tristan und Isolde with Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior under Fritz Reiner live at the MET (or is it Covent Garden?) and I love every minute of it and I thank Naxos a lot for re-issuing it, if EMI had the idea, I'd be thanking EMI, but they didn't, they stored it somewhere in obscurity and, now Naxos is doing us (and them) a favor, they try to make some money out of it while it is still time.
That is plain pathetic.
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"Wer ein holdes weib errungen..."
In a legal decision that could have major repercussions for the recording industry worldwide, the New York State Court of Appeals has said that Naxos of America infringed copyright by issuing remastered 1930s recordings in the US.
Capitol Records filed a suit in 2002 on behalf of its subsidiary EMI Classics, claiming that Naxos had illegally distributed restorations of 1930s recordings by The Gramophone Company (now EMI Classics) in the US. These included Yehudi Menuhin’s performance of the Elgar Violin Concerto and Edwin Fischer’s performance of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. In 2003 a New York court had found in favour of Naxos.
In the UK, where copyright on recordings lasts for 50 years, these recordings have already come into the public domain. However, the appeals court maintained that they are still covered by copyright in the US, where copyright generally holds for 75 years. It said that the disputed recordings are covered under New York state law (recordings made after 1972 are protected by US federal law).
While the case will undoubtedly have immediate impact within the classical music business, it is already the subject of concerned discussion in other genres, not least pop music, where such treasures as Elvis Presley’s early recordings are fast approaching their out-of-copyright dates in Europe.
Richard Lyttelton, president of EMI Classics, said: ‘This decision also brings into sharp focus the inadequacy of the term of copyright protection in sound-recordings in Europe. With modern technology, national copyright boundaries become harder to defend, so there is now more than ever a compelling argument for harmonisation of worldwide copyright terms.’
In a statement, Naxos said: ‘If allowed to stand, this decision will have a deeply negative and harmful effect on all the reissue labels which for many years have made valuable historical recordings available to the general public that are not or are no longer available from the original copyright owners.’ Naxos said it is considering appealing to the US Supreme Court.
Anastasia Tsioulcas, online US correspondent
_____________________________________________
That is just sad from EMI. Sad, sad, sad. Ok, decade of 30 plus 75 years of copyright = 2005-2015 for expiration dates and they file a law suit in 2002? Isn't that just to make some out of them while the time permits?
I have a 1936 recording of Tristan und Isolde with Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior under Fritz Reiner live at the MET (or is it Covent Garden?) and I love every minute of it and I thank Naxos a lot for re-issuing it, if EMI had the idea, I'd be thanking EMI, but they didn't, they stored it somewhere in obscurity and, now Naxos is doing us (and them) a favor, they try to make some money out of it while it is still time.
That is plain pathetic.
------------------
"Wer ein holdes weib errungen..."
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