Date:         Wed, 24 May 2006 20:48:52 -0500
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Trey Bunn <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Orphan works
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On May 24, 2006, at 5:27 PM, Mike Richter wrote:
>
> A variation on the theme:
>
> You have a recording of a work in the public domain but lack  
> information on its origin. You want to use it, but need to  
> publicize it in order to find out who has the rights. That might  
> mean CD copies sent to the experts in the field, Internet posting  
> with requests to audition sent to appropriate groups, or similar  
> devices.
>
> As I understand the law (with or without the orphan-works  
> legislation), you can't publish even to that limited extent without  
> a license; you can't get the license without finding the holder(s)  
> of rights; you can't find them without publishing.


However, could you use the Fair Use get-out-of-court-free card and  
send around a 20 or 30 second sample of the work?  A representative  
sample and enough metadata (even if it's made up, e.g. "Appears to be  
a recording from the 1940s of an elderly woman snoring through a  
harmonica for 4 minutes, 28 seconds") could possibly turn up some  
results, and that would seem to be within the boundaries of the law  
(including making every effort to find the original author).


----------------
Trey Bunn
Folklife Archivist
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Montgomery, AL