Posted on 07/08/2004 8:09:34 AM PDT by MississippiMalcontent
The director of Hyperion Records, Simon Perry, plans to appeal against this week's high court ruling that the company must pay copyright fees on its recording of a 300-year-old piece of music. The decision could have serious repercussions throughout the world of classical music. "Our legal team asked the judge to look at a particular point of the law and he didn't," said Perry. "We're going to say to the House of Lords that he didn't even refer to it. We think he's simply come to the wrong conclusion."
The suit against Hyperion was brought by Lionel Sawkins, a musicologist who spent a year preparing an edition of pieces by Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657-1726), court composer to Louis XIV and Louis XV. Sawkins claimed that, since his work had been used by Hyperion to make its CD Music for the Sun King, he was entitled to royalties on the recording.
Copyright normally expires 70 years after the artist's death, but the judge ruled that Sawkins's work had been significant enough for him to claim royalties. "I am not persuaded," said Mr Justice Patten, "that one can reject a claim to copyright in a new music work simply because the editorial composer has made no significant changes to the notes."
Hyperion was granted the right to appeal but ordered to pay legal costs, which have already run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Yesterday, however, Perry was undaunted. "Our policy on copyright is very well known in the industry," he said. "We do not agree that copyright should be given to editors of music of public-domain composers. Almost every single recording we have ever made used a scholar or an editor who puts in considerable time and effort. [Sawkins] got a hire fee from us for the use of his editions, so we're not using someone's work and not paying them for it."
Sawkins, meanwhile, is delighted by the judgment. "It's such a pity that it even got to the court. Other record companies have been content to pay royalties on my editions, and I've had many encouraging letters from other publishers and editors since the judgment came out. Hyperion have only themselves to blame for the pickle they're in."
That's also why they love the digital copyright protection act because it adds in criminal penalties for singing 300 year old tunes in the shower- if Mr. Sawkins finds out about it.
U.S. Copyright law says that a "work for hire" belongs to the employer. British copyright law, I don't know. And not enough info here to ascertain the specifics of the agreement between the parties. But since "they paid him a fee", it seems to lean in their favor...
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