Posted by Phil Altpeter on January 29, 2002 at 22:03:49:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Copywright Information posted by Mark Wiseman on January 29, 2002 at 11:46:29:
Mark's link to the Copyright Office information on Circle P for "Phonorecords" is the procedure for getting the copyright for a sound recording. The history of this goes back to pre 1972 when the association for the recording companies (Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA) lobbied Congress to provide for the Circle P copyright on sound recordings because they were getting ripped off by the tape pirates who were mass producint 8 track tapes of popular albums. Congress provided for the Circle P copyright and added a criminal violation in Title 18 of the United States Code so the tape pirates could be prosecuted in federal court. February 15, 1972 was the effective date for Circle P to appear on sound recording labels. In 1972, I was a young federal agent in Los Angeles and my only claim to fame is that I wrote the first federal search warrant in the country to seize pirated 8 track tapes and manufacturing equipment from the illegal manufactures. There were many tape pirates convicted in federal court in Los Angeles over the next six years. The RIAA still has an anti-piracy office that tracks down the pirates that are now making counterfeit CDs. ASCAP and BMI are the agencies that make sure the owners of the copyrights for the written music and lyrics receive their royalties everytime their song is played over the airways or sold in a sound recording.
Phil The Fed.