[NMLUG] Re: legal music downloads?

[sbrowne at ix.netcom.com (Steve Browne)]

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 22:52:43 -0000, you wrote:

>"Larry W. Wood" <lwwoody@comcast.net> said:
>
>> On Jul 30, 2004, at 4:04 PM, Robert wrote:
>> > downloading from iTunes / Napster is [legal], because you are paying 
>> > that company, which in turn pays those who
>> > own the copyrights.
>> 
>> But, what about downloading from that Rusky site (allofmp3.com), which 
>> says that they pay some Russian music federation which claims that 
>> they, in turn, pay the copyright holder.  They also claim that they 
>> offer some music in CDAudio format (that, I guess, would show up as 
>> AIFF or WAV).  Can anyone verify this, or whether it's safe to give 
>> them a credit card #?     --  Woody
>> 
>
>What they say about paying the copyright holder is true, at least if you're in
>Russia.  The RIAA has a special agreement with Russia so that Russians can
>obtain US music with a different pricing scheme.  However, that agreement
>states that it's for people living in _Russia_, specifically, so that's why it
>may be legal for them but not for us.  I don't know.
>
>As far as paying them, I went ahead and did it.  I gave them $10 via credit
>card but since I was a little nervous doing so, I used one of those "one-time
>use" numbers.  The transaction went smooth and I've had no problems.  I'm no
>longer apprehensive about giving them more money.  But that may be a while,
>considering $10 goes a LONG way.
>
>Leila

Looks interesting. I wonder wha the URL is for their RUSSIAN site, in
Russian (Cyrillic), for Russians?

I tried a test on allofmp3.com by submitting a song title I've long
been looking for the original recording (c. 1921) of - "Dorogoj
dlinnoju" (transliterated phonetically). The result: 0. Probably they
spell it somewhat differently or don't spell it in English at all.

Why am I interested in "Dorogoj dlinnoju"? Rooted in Russian folk
music, it was first given written lyrics in te 1880's. Around 1960 a
Russian-born American named Gene Raskin picked up the melody, changed
the words and gave us, "Those were the days, my friend; we thought
they'd never end.." Ring a bell?   :-)

Steve
Stephen B. Browne
sbrowne@ix.netcom.com
"Ubi bene, ibi patria."