A version of this article appeared in print on January 8, 2013, on page of the with the headline: Sony Issues Dylan CDs To Extend Copyright.
Two spokesmen for Sony confirmed that the set was legitimate, its bootleglike appearance notwithstanding. They explained that the point of the release was to keep the recordings under copyright protection in Europe, where the laws are in flux. Currently, recordings can be copyrighted in Europe for 50 years, a much shorter term than in the United States, where recordings made since 1978 will remain copyrighted until 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.
Some of the studio recordings, as well as live performances from the Gaslight Cafe, Carnegie Hall and the Finjan Club, in Montreal, are miliar to collectors of bootlegs, tumour4967.typepad.com though the quality here is improved. In ct, the outtakes from the Freewheelin sessions sound notably clearer than Freewheelin itself.
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So r, few record labels have responded to the pending shift in European copyright protection by releasing copious amounts of archival material, although ns of bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are hoping that such releases are in the offing.
Only about 100 copies of the four-CD set were produced, with sparse packaging and an insert listing the details of the sets 86 tracks, all previously unreleased studio outtakes and live recordings from 1962 and 1963. music copyright laws Sony Issues
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It also comes as a downloadable version, available through the singerss Web site, bobdylan.com, but only to ns who log on from France or Germany. (Prices for the CD set vary from country to country, from the equivalent of $39 to, in Britain, school186.typepad.com $138)
Among the highlights is a series of seven increasingly rollicking versions of Mixed Up Confusion, which Mr. Dylan released as a single in 1962, and three takes one on piano, two on guitar of the Robert Johnson blues classic Milkcows Calf Blues.
But Sony is not alone. Universal, which owns the Motown catalog, has released a series of jazz, gospel and rhythm and blues albums under the rubric Motown Unreleased 1962, which makes a large body of its unissued archives eligible for the European copyright extension.
American collectors are locked out, although for those desperate to have an original CD set, several have made their way to eBay, where bids have gone as high as about $1,450. (For collectors who want the recordings, but who dont care about having one of the 100 original CDs, the set has been turning up on file-sharing sites.)
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In 2011 the European Union revised its copyright laws to extend copyright to 70 years. The change is not yet in effect but will be by 2014. And theres a catch, a use it or lose it provision: recordings cannot benefit from the 20-year extension unless they were published before the 50-year term expired. The recordings on The 50th Anniversary Collection were about to ll over that legal precipice.
Sony Music has released a new compilation of previously unreleased Bob Dylan studio outtakes and live recordings from 1962 and 1963.
Because Sony has been considering some tracks on The 50th Anniversary Collection for its Bootleg Series, a program of archival releases that now encompasses nine multidisc sets, the company decided to throw a few dozen tracks onto the market, however tenuously, to ensure their ownership.
music copyright laws Sony Issues,In an unusual response to provisions in a new European copyright law, scheduled to take effect by 2014, Sony Music has released a compilation of early Bob Dylan recordings that is bound to become one of his most collectible albums. The 50th Anniversary Collection, which carries a subtitle The Copyright Extension Collection, Vol. 1 that explains its purpose, was rushed to only a handful of record shops in Germany, France, Sweden and Britain just after Christmas.
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There was another concern. In Europe smaller labels have been releasing recordings that have gone out of copyright as public domain compilations so-called gray market discs including some by Mr. Dylan. Typically,Jan 21, 2013 9:05:30 AM. these companies have not had access to master tapes but have released material that has already appeared on bootlegs, often in superb but not master quality. Sony hopes to fight those labels with this release and any sequels.
The 50th Anniversary Collection is an idiosyncratic compilation, made up largely of recordings from the sessions for Mr. Dylans second album, The Freewheelin Bob Dylan. Included are alternative takes of several songs from that record, including Blowin in the Wind, Bob Dylans Dream and I Shall Be Free, as well songs that didnt make the finished album, often in multiple versions.
