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Mildred Bailey - Peace, Brother!

It is also important to note that with the passage of the Sound Recording Act of 1971, musical works and sound recordings are not treated equally. Under the 1971 amendment, the publication of a phonorecord stripped away common law rights, and the copyright owner had to abide by the 1909 Act’s notice requirements to avoid the copyright being forfeited... In order to understand all of this, some background on the issue of notice is in order. Prior to the effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, notice of copyright refers to the affixation of the name of the copyright owner, the date of the first publication of the work, and the symbol c with a circle around it in a reasonably visible location on the work... The 1976 act states that the publication of a sound recording publishes not only the sound recording, but also publishes the recorded musical composition imbedded in the disc.

Before moving on to a discussion of how music copyright laws have affected blues and jazz musicians, there needs to be a discussion of the mechanical license, and this will lead us directly to how royalties are handled. The mechanical license imposes substantial limits on the reproduction, adaptation, and distribution rights of copyright owners of music. This sets up a compulsory licensing apparatus for the making and distribution of phonorecords, just as long as they are of non dramatic musical works. The mechanical license first appeared in the original 1909 copyright act, and to this day is still a major part of the 1976 copyright act. When a phonorecord of a musical composition is distributed to the public, a sound recording can be made of the composition by any person for sale to the public. The owner of the copyrighted music has the exclusive right to make the first distribution to the public. The compulsory license provisions then take effect, and the musical composition is wide open for anyone to make a recording of it and offer it for sale to the public.

An example of this would be if a new trumpet player and singer wanted to do their own version of the Rogers and Hart classic My Funny Valentine. When the first recording of this song was made and distributed, which was a long time ago, the compulsory license provisions took effect at that time. Ever since that time, anyone is free to do their own version of the song, or cover as they are now known. However, the new trumpeter/singer must abide by the rules that are outlined in the 1976 copyright act.


Mildred Bailey - Peace, Brother!
  • Recorded by: Mildred Bailey with Benny Goodman & his Orch  
  • Recorded on: Nov 11, 1939
  • Duration: 2:38

"Mildred Bailey's first recording was a 1929 uncredited vocalist for a session by the Eddie Lang Orchestra in 1929. In 1932, she recorded what would be her signature song, Rockin’ Chair. The song became so popular that she would be known as The Rockin’ Chair Lady."

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