Talk:Yearning For Freedom

Hei, what is this problem about copyright violation? I translated this text myself. Is translation of Finnish text to English copyright violation? I don't think so...

Yaz 17:34, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Zhaladshar, what do I need to do to establish that there is no copyright violation in my English translation I wrote and submitted to Wikisource? Please, let me know the procedure and what how I can help in this process. Yaz


 * Hi, Yaz, please review the comment I made on your talk page. It's unfortunate that there are some extra hurdles to go through (it can have the unfortunate consequence of sending good-willed people away from our project), so I do apologize for this extra work.


 * My first concern is whether the actual Finnish text is in the public domain or not. I do not know whether it is or not, but maybe you do.  If the text is still protected under copyright, I am afraid that we cannot allow either the Finnish text or an English translation of it.  If, however, the text is no longer under copyright protection, you will have to e-mail permissions-en at wikimedia dot org and release it either under the GFDL or release it into the public domain.  Then we will have someone link to the e-mail you sent on the work itself, which will be sufficient enough to allow for the work to be on Wikisource.


 * Just so you know, though, here is what happens if you license the work under the GFDL (in case you don't already know):


 * People can make any changes they want to your work and can translate it into any language they want.
 * People can redistribute your work
 * People can make money off of your work


 * If you don't mind people being able to do these things, then feel free to license it. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.  I apologize for this extra work that has to happen in order to add this work to Wikisource, and I hope it doesn't detract from your experience.—Zhaladshar (Talk) 03:03, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Ok, here is what I know about Hiski Salomaa's published works (quoted from English Wikipedia article about Hiski Salomaa):
 * "Between 1927 - 1931 Salomaa recorded 18 songs for Columbia Records. His best known songs include Tiskarin Polkka (Dishwasher's Polka), Vapauden Kaiho (Yearning for Freedom), and Lännen lokari (Western Logger). Salomaa's recordings are considered to be an important part of Finnish recording history because during this period the Finnish recording industry was almost non-existent. In fact, between 1917 - 1925 not a single record was released in Finland."


 * So, it appears that the latest the Vapauden Kaiho (Yearning for Freedom) lyrics can be attributed to under (C) copyright is in 1931. Is that too early? I am NOT a legal expert here. Please advice.


 * A quick look from American Copyright Law on Wikipedia reveals following:
 * "United States copyright law
 * Main article: United States copyright law
 * Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution, also known as the Copyright Clause, gives Congress the power to enact statutes To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
 * Congress first exercised this power with the enactment of the Copyright Act of 1790, and has changed and updated copyright statutes several times since. The Copyright Act of 1976, though it has been modified since its enactment, is currently the basis of copyright law in the United States.
 * The length of the copyright term within the United States was extended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which made the copyright term the life of the author plus 70 years for works created after January 1, 1978. In the case of a work of corporate authorship (also known as "Work for Hire") the term will be 95 years from the date of first publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first. This legislation was challenged in court and affirmed by the US Supreme Court in the landmark copyright decision, Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003), in which the Supreme Court agreed that the length of the copyright term (ie, the period of time during which the copyright holder has a monopoly on its exploitation) could be extended by Congress after the original act of creation and beginning of the copyright term, as long as the extension itself was limited instead of perpetual. The duration of U.S. copyright for works created before 1978 is a complex matter; however, works published before 1923 are all in the public domain. In the US, after the death of a copyright holder, heirs inherit the copyright. [7]
 * 17 U.S.C. § 105 withholds copyright protection from any work of the United States Government, defined in 17 U.S.C. § 101 as "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties." Any such work is therefore in the public domain."
 * It seems like the question here is whether this lyrics in Finnish was done work under hire for Columbia Records (in which case the length of protection is 95 years of the first publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires *first*), or does it fall under the life of author plus 70 years for work created after January 1, 1978. Well, work is created before 1978, so what category does it belong now? I am almost sure if we asked Columbia Records they would like to claim copyright, but who knows...


 * More details ... I bought a CD from Finland, which has the original Finnish song recording of Hiski Salomaa's Vapauden Kaiho. The name of the CD is "HISKI SALOMAA KOOTUT TEOKSET 1927 - 1931". It is edited by Pekka Gronow, produced (P) by Siboney 1991. It is written in the CD notes that Vapauden Kaiho was published in 1929. This CD is made in New York. It is (C) 19, 20 Eric Lindström Kustannus and (P) Siboney, 1991. ALL RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER AND THE OWNER OF THE WORK REPRODUCED RESERVED UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, HIRING, LENDING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE, AND BROADCASTING OF THIS RECORD IS PROHIBITED. ... Now, there is NO mentioning of any copyright ownership by Columbia Records in this CD what-so-ever! Moreover, what does (C) 19,20 mean? What does (P) mean???


 * It turns out the (P) is SOUND RECORDING COPYRIGHT SYMBOL. Wikipedia article about (P) symbol ... While researching this I found a book in my local library called Music Law how to run your band's business written by Attorney Rich Stim and published by NOLO in 2004 (4th edition) ISBN 1-4133-0085-5. What I would like to do next is to find the current legal copyright holder for the LYRICS of this song Vapauden kaipuu -- since it seems like there are multiple levels and layers of SOUND RECORDING copyright. Does the SOUND recording copyright also protect the LYRICS of the song? Perhaps I need to talk to sound recording attorney, like Rich Stim to find out, but I hope I could find this ownership from PUBLIC RECORDS somewhere, preferebly on the internet. Anyone know how to go about doing this??


 * By the way, I found one article about Hiski Salomaa and his recording history at Article about Hiski Salomaa in NewWorldFinn VOL. 2, # 12, OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2001


 * The U.S. Copyright Office has this in their Frequently Asked Questions: Services Who Owns Copyright which states that before 1978 records are kept in manually searchable records that are free to search for people in person at the office, but if you ask the officers to do your search for your they will charge 150 USD for that works. Please, if there is any Wikisource reader near their office, could you please do me a favor and do this search for me? I live in the North West corner of the USA and cannot just hop into the US Copyright Office any time I would like to, and $150 seems like a lot of money to do a simple search.


 * Their address is:
 * Library of Congress
 * Copyright Office
 * Reference and Bibliography Section
 * 101 Independence Avenue SE
 * Washington, DC 20559-6000
 * Fax: (202) 252-3485
 * Tel: (202) 707-6850


 * Yaz

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