Music and sound recordings are treated a little differently than other forms of copyrightable material.

Without getting into the music end of it which will confuse things, the sound recording copyright is owned by “maker” of the recording. Generally, the guy/company that owns the equipment the sound was recorded with. Period. Also, “fair use” would not apply in this instance.

That said, depending on when the recording was made or published and if any extensions were applied for, these older recordings may or may not be in the public domain. 1978 is the main dividing line where the law and requirements changed. For info in more detail, see: https://library.osu.edu/site/copyright/2013/05/15/198/. For even more detail, see: https://www.copyright.gov/title17/

As a graphic artist and musician in my other life, I’m pretty much aware of how copyright applies in these areas.

Interesting recordings ie music vs records of sounds.
[url]
https://library.osu.edu/site/copyright/2013/05/15/198/[/url]

Does a Cat retain rights to it's meow? Does a human retain rights to it's voice and or voice print ? The click of my front door that makes the dog and cat come running when I enter the house ? Do I as human retain the rights of my cat's meow ?

Identical mechanical devices should produce identical sounds. How do you copyright the sound of a hammer on steel if everyone purchases the same hammer and steel ?

When I was out of HS I played banjo in bluegrass and hillbilly bands, not what is called mistakenly studio country western. Later bass in rock-n-roll revival in the 1970's. If anyone wanted to record us ( not likely ) and pass it around, GREAT !

I can understand doing all the work and then someone making copy and selling for a profit. That is what brought about the copyright laws on computer software.

In the case of old lp's long out of production and near impossible to find, cassette tapes that are going bad and not to be found, save them for others, just not at a profit.

Dan - reread my second paragraph. The actual sound itself (bird, cat, whatever) can not be copyrighted, however the recording (noun, not verb) of the bird or cat certainly can be.

If you want to reproduce something that is copyrighted, you must get permission (a contract) from the holder. Public domain materials are fair game.

There's a further issue involved.

You might argue whether or not someone can "copyright" the sounds a steam locomotive makes, or the sight of a train roaring by on the Northeast Corridor. But the reality is that someone:
*Had to buy (or borrow), and learn how to use correctly, whatever recording equipment is in question;
*Actually GO TO the location in question, be it a hillside on the Old Fort Loops, Sherman Hill, trackside in South Africa, or a field near a military base in Yugoslavia (all locations Hal Lewis ended up at);
*properly operate the equipment in question; and
*properly preserve and edit the recording into a marketable form, be it a tape or CD or DVD.

THAT'S what you pay for.

When I first met Hal Lewis on the Old Fort Loops during the 1989 NRHS Convention waiting for NKP 587 doubleheading N&W 1218 upgrade, he was toting a relatively new-technology DAT recorder with a shoulder strap and a microphone set-up which alone cost about what cell phones cost. And to make successful audio recordings, you have to have an ear and "nose" for what locations produce the best sound, just as the guys who make superior videos of trains are looking for different camera locations than the still photographers are.

I remember reading a story by one of the first producers of railfan videos about how most of his first attempt at shooting was rendered useless by a cinder from 2101 lodging itself in the tape mechanism, putting a crease right down the master tapes as they were being made. He then laid out the considerable expense of broadcast-quality gear, tripods, etc.

This is all part of what you pay for with copyrighted material. It's like the old saw of the garage fixing a car by hitting the engine, and presenting the bill: "Hammer: $2. Knowing where to hit and how hard: $95."

Now, I want some of these audio recordings remastered/digitized as badly as anyone, and I even have a huge stack of LPs and 10" records I'd contribute to an organized, funded digitization effort that would be made available at reduced fidelity online or for purchase or commercial use in high-quality, with an archive in charge (Center for RR Photo-Art? R&LHS? NRHS? One of the museum archives?).

But be advised that getting people to even LISTEN TO, let alone purchase, vintage railroad audio is almost impossible in the age of railroad video, YouTube, and theater cinema being shot on cellphones. Listening to rail audio, as one rail executive who listened to a program of pure audio recordings I gave an NRHS Chapter years ago, forces a listener to fill in with his imagination the "missing pieces" of the experience--something that people have been increasingly trained to abandon in the internet and HDTV era.

This is true.

But guess what else is MOST LIKELY true?

Many, if not most, of these recordings were never submitted for proper copyright registration.
The people who made the vintage recordings and held the copyrights, with one or two exceptions, are dead. O. Winston Link, Brad Miller, John Prophet, Hal Lewis, Peter Handford, etc.
The heirs, if they even exist, may not even be aware that they are heirs for these recordings, and may not even care. We're not talking Michael Jackson or The Beatles here.
The only party I see in a position to bring legal action against a copier/marketer of audio recordings would be either the Link Museum/Museum of Western Va. for O. Winston Link's audio, or the successor to Britain's ASV label--from Wikipedia:



Yes, THAT'S how complicated ONE guy's recordings can get.

But we're in a day where I know of at least one commercial VIDEO producer whose business--including all masters, back catalog, rights, etc.--is up for sale for about what that professional video camera cost a different producer in 1980...........

And the market available to potential sellers is almost non-existent open mostly to collectors of that specific genre. Not to disparage said collectors, I personally get enough railroad noises, live each week, that I don’t feel the need to pay for more to play at home. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy good stack talk once in a while, but when I do, it’s with the real thing. On the flip side, I do think that the better or rare vintage recordings do deserve to be preserved.

True. However, copyright can be inferred. If you can prove that you are the originator of the work, you can defend your copyright without it being previously registered. If everyone had to register a copyright for everything they produce, the copyright office would be buried under a mountain of paper on a daily basis. It’s easier to defend if it has been registered but it isn’t a requirement. So if you’re important enough that any plagiarism will result in a huge monetary loss, it behooves you to register a copyright.

As for who owns a copyright, if owned by an individual and that individual dies, the heir or heirs become the owner. If owned by a company and the company is bought, then the copyright usually transfers to the new owner as it is considered an asset. It’s these scenarios that sometimes make tracking down the owner a maddening experience. There are other nuances that can go along with, but that’s the gist of it.

Who is going to enforce it?

Depends on who owns the copyright and if they care.

I care about mine. I watch for someone trying to claim “derivative” work or just ignoring copyright altogether and I won’t hesitate to enforce my rights. I always get approval in writing before I incorporate someone else’ work into mine. I don’t need to get any certified letters on fancy paper with an impressive letterhead demanding payment for something I did.

But that’s just me. Your mileage may vary.