OK, there are a couple of different issues here. I'm by no stretch of
the imagination a copyright expert, but I'll give you my opinion.
First, let's talk about P2P (Peer to Peer). In the basic sense of the
term, you're downloading and possibly sharing files with individual
(usually home) computers. The technology has gotten a lot of bad press
lately - the entertainment industry sees it as a vehicle to violate
copyrights. If you were to, say, download a Brittany Spears album over
a P2P network - besides the fact that you have questionable taste in
music - you should know that your violating US copyright law.
Now, specifically to the material we're really talking about. Works
produced pre-1923 are in the public domain. In the case of a
compilation, you can't claim copyright over the individual public
domain works, but may be able to claim copyright on the compilation
itself (the order of the music, cover artwork, etc.). So, by
downloading a compilation, you may be violating copyright law.
Works produced from 1923 and beyond may - or may not - be in the
public domain, depending on the copyright law at the time of the work.
Here's a great chart to help figure this stuff out:
http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/
There are plenty of places to download music videos from those early
days... www.archive.org is a good place to start.
Loran
On Sep 3, 2008, at 11:29 AM, chrisk33 at cox.net wrote:
What ARE the potential (and likely) P2P / copyright issues with this
site? I just discovered they also have mp3 files of a very
expensive $250+) set of CDs and DVDs published by the Bear Family.
Apparently it doesn't cost anything to download.
Chris
