Copyrights Begin Reverting To Reclaiming Authors Beginning In 2013

Originally published January 18, 2012

The recording industry is already reeling from the effects of the Internet -- illegal downloading of new releases has contributed mightily to a drastic reduction in industry sales in these early years of the Third Millennium.

This in turn has made the recording industry heavily dependent on sales of the older (1970's and 1980's) recordings in their catalogs in order to stay afloat.  

But, to coin a phrase in this centennial year of the Titanic disaster, the ship of golden oldies is about to hit an iceberg, in the form of section 203 of the U.S. Copyright Act.

In 1978... when Jimmy Carter was president and likely half of our readers had yet to be born... Congress decided to give authors (including musicians) the right to terminate transfers or licenses granted on or after January 1, 1978, after 35 years.  In order to do so, the author has to give his or her counter-party at least two years notice.  Copyrights will begin