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APRIL 22,
THE
1922
MUSIC
TRADE
45
REVIEW
TOO MANY LAW SUITS
E. C. Mills Issues Letter Decrying Present
Tendency Among Publishers and Songwriters
to Rush Into Court Without Genuine .Basis
for Complaint—Practice Hurts the Trade
Manuscript
Paper
If you have not seen
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get them h-pfore plac-
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Century Music Pub. Co.
235 West 40th St.
New York
FEATURING TEACHING NUMBERS
Special Portfolios Issued by Century Co. Being
Used to Excellent Advantage
More and more dealers seem to be using the
portfolios issued by the Century Music Pub-
lishing Co. for the purpose of displaying the
graded teaching pieces. Under their use twenty
or twenty-five copies of assorted copyrighted
numbers for a particular grade are inserted in
Century Portfolios for Teaching Numbers
a portfolio, on the cover of which is designated
the grade for which they have been found
appropriate. A teacher, therefore, can step to
the counter and go through the graded numbers,
selecting those which he or she finds most
valuable for his or her work.
The number of suits involving song titles as
well as infringement of copyright during the
past two years have been quite numerous. Many
of these are dropped before the case is brought
to trial, others are dragged out over a period
of months and the decision invariably results
in anything but profit to either litigant concerned
in the case.
E. C. Mills, chairman of the executive board
of the Music Publishers' Protective Association,
has brought the matter of such suits before the
members of his organization and, no doubt, the
consideration this body will give such legal
contests, and the questions involved, will result
in a lessening of such suits. We are reprinting
below Mr. Mills' letter, which is worthy of par-
ticular attention:
"There is a condition developing in this in-
dustry which, it seems to me, threatens its
stability. I refer to the increasing volume of
litigation between publishers based upon alleged
infringement of copyright through similarity of
compositions.
"Apparently there is a disposition in some
parts to scrutinize every composition coming
into the field, with the sole object of discovering
some resemblance, no matter how remote, which
may be made the basis for a charge of plagia-
rism, infringement of copyright and claim for
damages; which, if not met, is tested by liti-
gation.
"Often, it would seem, these claims and
charges lack the good faith which should charac-
terize a claim for damages, in that they are
brought in behalf of compositions long since
commercially inactive and for all practical pur-
poses 'dead.'
"It goes without saying that infringement,
plagiarism and unfair appropriation of melodies
and lyrics should be discouraged in every pos-
sible manner. There should be no direct or
indirect encouragement or support of the
'lifting' of material or ideas. I am not sug-
gesting an abandonment of any rights that any
person may have, but I am suggesting a reason-
able and fair construction of those rights.
"In the so-called 'popular' field it is apparent
that there will always be more or less similarity
in new compositions to those which have gone
before, and for all I know this may be equally
true in the high-class field."
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Feist Dance Folio No. 3
And It's a "Pippin"
CONTAINS
Ten Little Fingers
Stealing
Wahash Blues
Ty-Tee
Sung of India
I'eggy O'Neil
When Francis Dances
Georgia Rose
All That I Need Is You
Sweetheart
Swanee River Moon
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LEO. FEIST, Inc., FEIST Bldg., New York
FEATURING "THE ISLE OF ZORDA"
S. C. Caine, Inc., Publishing New Fox-trot
Written Around Motion Picture Theme
"The Isle of Zorda," the new Oriental fox-
trot suggested by the big Pathe feature photo-
play of the same name, is being published by S. C.
Caine, Inc. This number has been tried out by
several well-known orchestras with success, in-
cluding Ray Miller's Black and White Melody
Boys, at the Club Maurice.
The music of "The Isle of Zorda" was written
by Victor Nuernburg, who is an accomplished
musician, and the lyric is the work of Herbert
Crooker and Milt Hagen. The title page of the
piano copy is designed by Gustav Michaelson,
who has been known for some of his striking
magazine covers.
"The Isle of Zorda" is being featured in con-
junction with the release of the picture, with the
co-operation of the Pathe organization and local
exhibitors everywhere. In addition to the num-
ber being used as the theme of the music with
the picture, slides of the chorus are to be thrown
on the screen as a singer renders the song.
NEW ROSKOPP NUMBER
The Roskopp Music Co., 110 Market street,
Mt. Clemens, Mich., has just released a new
waltz song, entitled "Clouds" (Visions of You).
The words are by Adele Czizek and the music
by Kate Roskopp. Constance Czizek, a sister
of Adele Czizek, drew the title page for the piano
copies.
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