I recently visited the Disques Cinémusique website to see if they had recorded any further Georges Delerue releases. Unfortunately they haven't.
However I did notice (much to my surprise) a series of digital download-only albums of film music. There must be over 20 of these 'albums'. The film music excerpts range from the late 1930's to about 1967. Disques Cinémusique claims copyright on all the music, which comes from US,UK and France soundtracks.
Furthermore, all the various tracks from these 'albums' that I have played contain music that has been ripped directly from the films'. The tracks do not come from original 'master tapes'.
My question to those in the know is, are these releases legitimate? Is there a 'gray area' where these albums are legit in some territories, but not elsewhere? I am having a difficult time believing that such a small CD label such as Disques Cinémusique could possibly afford the licensing fees to release this material.
Many Thanks, Jay
Here is a link to a listing of these compilation-albums:
These releases are legal under Canadian copyright law, where they are produced, but illegal under U.S, law. In Canada, for sound recordings, photographs and videos, copyright extends for 50 years from the date of the recording. Works enter the public domain when the term of copyright has expired.
These releases are legal under Canadian copyright law, where they are produced, but illegal under U.S, law. In Canada, for sound recordings, photographs and videos, copyright extends for 50 years from the date of the recording. Works enter the public domain when the term of copyright has expired.
Thank you Bob for the enlightenment. With YouTube being an American company I should expect that these recordings should be blocked from viewing in the U.S., but they are not.
Also even if these recordings are legit in Canada can Disques Cinémusique actually claim copyright ownership?
These releases are legal under Canadian copyright law, where they are produced, but illegal under U.S, law. In Canada, for sound recordings, photographs and videos, copyright extends for 50 years from the date of the recording..
That´s not quite correct. In Canada the important sound recording copyright was extended from 50 years to 70 years in June 2015 whereas in Europe we got such a new copyright law already at the end of 2013. But you have to keep in mind that this new sound recording copyright law doesn´t apply to recordings which were already in public domain after 50 years in June 2015. In the end this means that Disques Cinemusique in Canada can release everything without any problem - and without having to pay the music publishers/studios of the scores - which was recorded at least till December 1964 or January 1965 as for these recordings copyright had already expired after 50 years end of 2014 and so they also remain public domain after that time. However, DCM can´t simply release a recording from 1966 or later without licensing it from the music publisher of the score because such a recording is not public domain after 50 years, but is protected for 70 years. And that´s the important difference. This is the main reason why they release so many scores from the time before 1965 because they don´t have to pay for them! You can read about those complex Canadian copyright laws for example here: http://www.entertainmentmedialawsignal.com/the-complexities-of-canadas-extension-of-copyright-protection-for-sound-recordings/
I think I have said this before but many of their releases are simply DVD rips (lossy) or MP3 rips from vinyls, even when sold as lossless. To me this is a bit of a scam; if I pay a premium price for lossless, I should not be receiving some re-encoded MP3 files. It has been a few years already, and these releases are still being sold without warning. I also blame Qobuz and other stores for selling anything without checking the source.
I also blame Qobuz and other stores for selling anything without checking the source.
There are soooooooooo many dubious releases all over the digital stores/streaming sites it's not even funny. Film scores are just a tiny bit of those.
I agree. I essentially gave up downloading anything recorded before 1964, unless it is very clearly associated to a major label "Universal", "RCA", etc. It is silly but I prefer to buy a CD than spending hours sorting through dubious MP3 duplicates from *official* music stores.
