The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1910)

THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. 17 COPYRIGHT REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Presented by the Board of Trade Copyright Committee Appointed to Consider the Revised International Copyright Convention Signed in Berlin and Its Relation to the Laws of Great Britain — The Detailed Report of the Findings and Recommendations Will Prove of Exceeding Interest. (Special to The Talking Machine World.) London, Eng., Jan. 6, 1910. In accordance with the instructions of the president of the 'board of trade, the committee appointed to consider the revised international copyright convention signed at Berlin on November 13, 1908 (hereafter called the revised convention) and its relation to the law of the United Kingdom, have now issued their report as follows, and from which it will be gathered that: 1. The principle of copyright recognition of authors' works in relation to mechanical rerroduction conceded. 2. Composers to retain freedom of action in licensing the use Of their works for mechanical reproduction. 3. Such recognition (paragraph 1) not to be retroactive. 4. It is also recommended that the term of protection shall include the life of the author and fifty years after his death, as adopted by the revised convention. The findings of the Berlin or Revised convention provides that authors of musical works shall have the exclusive right of authorizing (1) the adaptation of those works to instruments which can produce them mechanically; (2) the public performance of the said works by means of these instruments. Reservations and conditions relating to the application of this article may be determined by the domestic legislation of each country in so far as it is concerned; but the effect ci any such reservations and conditions will be strictly limited to the country which has put them in force. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not be retroactive, and consequently shall not be applicable in any country of the Union to works which have been lawfully adapted in that country to mechanical instruments before the coming into force of the present convention. Adaptations made in virtue of paragraphs 2 and 3 of the present article, and imported without the authority of the interested parties into a country where they would not be lawful, shall be liable to seizure in that country. "This article alters the provisions of the closing protocol, Number 3, of the Berne convention, which is as follows: " 'Closing Protocol. — -Section 3. It is understool that the manufacture and sale of instruments serving to reproduce mechanically musical airs in which copyright subsists shall not be considered as constituting infringment of musical copyright.' aschineti t«. "The first observation to be made on the article is that its terms are confined to authors of musical works, and when this article is read with the other articles of the convention it is not quite clear whether under the provisions of the convention authors of dramatic, dramatico-musical and literary works would receive any .protection against reproduction by means of mechanical instruments. It may he, in view of the terms of article 2, that such protection is conferred, but having regard to the uncertainty which exists it seems desirable to make it plain that such is to be the case, and in any confirmation of the Revised convention the committee suggest that the necessary protection should be expressly conferred independently of article 13, and should also be conferred by domestic law. "With regard to the adoption of the article, and subject to the observations which will be hereafter made on the third paragraph, the committee are of opinion that it may toe accepted, and they recommend, therefore, that the authors of musical works should have protection against the adaptation of their works to instruments which can produce them mechanically, and against the public performance of the said works by means of such instruments, both under the Revised convention and under British law, which should be amended accordingly. "But with regard to the exercise of that exclusive right certain very difficult questions arise. On the one hand it has been urged by a number of the witnesses that composers having, as such witnesses contend, a new right conferred upon them, should, if they license any manufacturer to adapt instruments to the production of works mechanically, be obliged to grant a similar license on similar terms to any manufacturer who chooses to demand it; in substance, they propose that tne principles which have been adopted in the United States of America with regard to instruments serving to reproduce mechanically musical works should be adopted in this country. "What steps, if any, have been taken in other countries with regard to compulsory license we have not been able to ascertain. The American act provides that an owner of a musical copyright who permits the use of his copyrighted work upon the parts of instruments serving to reproduce mechanically the musical work is bound to permit any other person to make a similar use of the work upon payment of a royalty of 2 cents on each part manufactured. The proviso containing this provision does not extend to anything further than musical compositions. If the exact scheme indicated in the section should not meet with approval in this country, the contention is that some other provision should be made for a compulsory license being granted upon equitable terms, so that all manufacturers of instruments producing a work mechanically and of the records required for the production should be placed upon an equal footing. "The main contentions on the part of those who advocate the adoption in this country of a MR. RECORDER. WAX WP," do you >•> know my the best existing recording material for Berliner (Gramophone-) cut? If not write for free sample to CHEMISCHE FABRIK E. SAUERLANDT FLURSTEDT bei Apolda i. Th., Germany The largest manufacturing plant in the world devoted exclusively to the manufacture of MasterWaxes for Gramophone and Phonograph Use Each Needle Once Only The vibrations of a tenor's voice being different from those of a soprano, or baritone, the reproductions of such vibrations— record waves — must also be different. Each used needle shows wear, and whether it be little or great, it really exists, therefore it should be clearly understood that the used needle never can reproduce the sound waves of a record as can a new one. The_ moral therefore is, "Use each needle once only!" and only use needles such as the CONDOR the points of which are made to conform to the sound-wave grooves, because — Thin points are too sharp and ruin the sound-waves; Thick points cannot follow the middle and underlying lines. As the users of records do not desire to ruin them, it will be best to sell them the needles on which points are guaranteed— needles that are made exactly to conform to the sound groove, such as the Condor Needles. Note in the above illustration how the Condor Needle fits into the sound groove or wave, and the purpose of this talk will be discernible. Be sure that the needle bears the word Condor. Sole Manufacturer Jos. Zimmerman!! Needle and Pin Works AACHEN GERMANY