Discussion of all things related to Public Domain

[tom poe <tompoe AT fiai.net>]

I bet you folks didn't know, but there's some reason to believe that the
Library of Congress is dabbling in the fine art of claiming copyright to
works that otherwise are supposed to be residing in our country's public
domain.  The answer below, is a first attempt to flesh out the details
on this little "trick".  Will keep you posted.

I was not expecting the related issue of access by the general public to
listening rooms.  This issue could, indeed, be explosive, at least from
my personal perspective.  Years ago, I resigned myself to public
libraries restricting access to medical/scientific publications, but I
never, ever expected to come up against someone restricting access to
public domain music.
Tom

-----Forwarded Message-----

From: rsrc AT loc.gov
To: tompoe AT fiai.net
Subject: Library Question - Answer [Question #895539]
Date: 28 Jun 2005 14:05:46 -0400

Hello Tom Poe



Question History:

Patron: Your site appears to offer 30 second samples of music.  If I visit 
the library, personally, will I find that I can only listen to 30 second 
samples?
Thanks for your time and consideration.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Librarian 2: This is in response to your questions about 30 second samples of 
music available in online exhibits.  Your inquiry was forwarded to the 
Recorded Sound Reference Center by the Music Division.

Because you sent your question directly to the Music Division, I assume that 
you are referring to the recordings in the "I hear America singing," online 
exhibit.  Due to copyright laws, songs from the twentieth century are not 
represented by very many items on the Web site. While every effort has been 
made to obtain permission to use these songs or portions of these songs, in 
some cases this has not been possible. Therefore, there may be no recordings 
or paper items to illustrate those songs, although there will still be text 
on the history of these songs.

In several cases, the rights’ owners of the materials have given permission 
to only use a portion of the material online. In those instances, only 30 
seconds is used from a sound recording, and one or two pages from print or 
manuscript materials.

Complete recordings are used in the online exhibits in the American Memory 
section of the Library's web site.  Online exhibits with complete recordings 
can be accessed at < 
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?format=Sound+Recording >.

When researchers come to the Recorded Sound Reference Center they can hear 
the entire recording.  Listening facilities, which are available without 
charge, are provided for those doing research of a specific nature, leading 
toward a publicly available work such as a publication, thesis or 
dissertation, radio/film/television production, or public performance. We 
regret that the facilities may not be used for purely personal study or 
appreciation. 

You can access additional information about the recorded sound collection 
listening policy at <http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/recguidelines.html>. 

Please contact me if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
Janet W. McKee
Reference Librarian
Recorded Sound Reference Center
Telephone: (202) 707-7833





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