1909 Piano Rolls & the Compulsory License
20. 06, 09 16:16 Filed in: law
An interesting article from The Public Domain website about Congressional hearings on the 1909 Copyright Act.
http://www.thepublicdomain.org/2009/07/17/were-we-smarter-100-years-ago/
My comments: An important point of clarification is in order here. The piano rolls were not “sound recordings”. They were mechanical reproductions of compositions. The argument was that you couldn’t “read” a piano roll as you could “read” sheet music. Therefore the rolls weren’t “writings” protected by statute. The compulsory license was instituted to balance out the concerns of both sides. Sound recordings were not copyrightable in the United States until February 15, 1972. They were however protected under state property laws. - - MJD
My comments: An important point of clarification is in order here. The piano rolls were not “sound recordings”. They were mechanical reproductions of compositions. The argument was that you couldn’t “read” a piano roll as you could “read” sheet music. Therefore the rolls weren’t “writings” protected by statute. The compulsory license was instituted to balance out the concerns of both sides. Sound recordings were not copyrightable in the United States until February 15, 1972. They were however protected under state property laws. - - MJD