[Tango-L] Copyright for tango music?

[Vince Bagusauskas]

Sorry but I thought I had replied to the list but it only went to Tony. 
Here is what I wrote to him:


Maybe it never expires in the US, but elsewhere it does:

How long does copyright last?
The current general rule – that copyright generally lasts for the life of
the creator plus 70 years –
came into operation on 1 January 2005. Before then, copyright generally
lasted for the life of the
relevant creator plus 50 years. There were various exceptions to this rule,
including:
• where a work was not published, performed or broadcast during the
creatorʼs lifetime; and
• where something was published anonymously or under a pseudonym, and the
identity of the
creator couldnʼt reasonably be ascertained.
(In each of these cases, copyright lasted for 50 years from the end of the
year the work was, with
permission, first published, performed or broadcast.)
The change in rules resulted from Australiaʼs commitments under the Free
Trade Agreement with
the US. However, Australia was not obliged to apply the new rules to
material in which copyright
had already expired.
This means that if, under the old rules, copyright had already expired by 1
January 2005, it stays
expired, and the material can, at least within Australia, be used freely.
(Note, however, that the
rules on duration of copyright vary from country to country.)
For detailed information on duration in Australia, see our information sheet
Duration of copyright.


from
http://www.copyright.org.au/admin/cms-acc1/_images/11961644624ce9fe69be8e0.pdf

Therefore in Australia at least most of the original recordings of Tangos
are now in the public domain.

Vince

I'll let Tony repost his response to me if he wishes.  However I will add 
further to my comments:

SADIAC only covers Argentina and the website is in Spanish, so finding out 
how and what it costs to morally license tango music is impossible to 
non-Spanish speakers.



In a subsequent post, a mention of ASCAP (AMERICAN SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS, 
AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS) was made. From their website:

12. Aren't musicians, entertainers and DJ's responsible for obtaining 
permission for music they perform?


Some people mistakenly assume that musicians and entertainers must obtain 
licenses to perform copyrighted music or that businesses where music is 
performed can shift their responsibility to musicians or entertainers. The 
law says all who participate in, or are responsible for, performances of 
music are legally responsible. Since it is the business owner who obtains 
the ultimate benefit from the performance, it is the business owner who 
obtains the license. Music license fees are one of the many costs of doing 
business.


I must admit that trying to understand if ASCAP covers music being played 
milongas/practicas/dance classes is a bit beyond me.  However, it seems that 
the minimum fee that they charge per year is US$288.

Vince
In Melbourne


-----Original Message----- 
From: Tony Rathburn
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2011 4:38 AM
To: dwyliu at gmail.com ; Tango-L
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Copyright for tango music?

officially, all tango music is copyrighted... and, the copyright never 
expires.
as within the US, an appropriate fee should be paid to copy, distribute, or 
play
for commercial purposes, including websites or milongas.  the organization 
that
covers licensing is BsAs is Sadiac.

tony