I buy a lot of music from the 1950s/1960s, and while I do not know enough about US copyright, it is obvious that it has expired for a lot of music from that era.
That sounds great at first, until you start looking for albums. Whether on iTunes, eMuisc, Spotify, or whatnot, the market gets absolutely flooded with shit-sounding copies, or allegedly "rare" recordings which are just a copy of something that got oficially released years ago. Often, the original cover is used. Sometimes, the cover of a totally different album is used. Unless you're an expert who published what on which label and who is (or was) the official rights owner, you're bound to fall for some second-rate shit, or buy something "new" you alredy have. And the best thing: the copies often aren't cheaper one bit. It's a bit less of a problem in brick and mortar stores, but the problem is on the rise there as well.
A single example: Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" has cost a fiver for years even before the copyright expired (and hence with no competition), is packaged nicely, and the remaster sounds astonishing. Now good luck in finding it. Seeing how it's on a pretty well-known label and a specific album, this is even comparatively easy. Becomes more difficult once you start looking just for an artist from that era.
I don't know what the solution is - it never seems to have been such a big problem with books, not the least because you usually get the same quality. Maybe it should be allowed to copy it freely, but only the (former) rights holder should be allowed to sell them, at least when it comes to music or digital distribution?
That sounds great at first, until you start looking for albums. Whether on iTunes, eMuisc, Spotify, or whatnot, the market gets absolutely flooded with shit-sounding copies, or allegedly "rare" recordings which are just a copy of something that got oficially released years ago. Often, the original cover is used. Sometimes, the cover of a totally different album is used. Unless you're an expert who published what on which label and who is (or was) the official rights owner, you're bound to fall for some second-rate shit, or buy something "new" you alredy have. And the best thing: the copies often aren't cheaper one bit. It's a bit less of a problem in brick and mortar stores, but the problem is on the rise there as well.
A single example: Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" has cost a fiver for years even before the copyright expired (and hence with no competition), is packaged nicely, and the remaster sounds astonishing. Now good luck in finding it. Seeing how it's on a pretty well-known label and a specific album, this is even comparatively easy. Becomes more difficult once you start looking just for an artist from that era.
I don't know what the solution is - it never seems to have been such a big problem with books, not the least because you usually get the same quality. Maybe it should be allowed to copy it freely, but only the (former) rights holder should be allowed to sell them, at least when it comes to music or digital distribution?
