Oct. 8, 2001, 2:37 p.m. (Message 27778)
On 7 Oct 2001, at 22:24, Oberdan Otto wrote: > I most wholeheartedly agree. The Wee Green Book is a wonderful > product at a most reasonable price. <...> > However stories about Pillings heirs taking hard positions on > copyright infringement of the contents of their book are a bit much to > bear, considering that neither they nor the original Mr. Pillings > sought permission from the creators of all those dances to include > them in the book. <...> Far worse: no Pilling diagrams carry the deviser's name. Whatever the legal position may be, it is ethically unacceptable to cite or describe any work of art in any form without giving credit to its creator. Just fancy doing that for a play, a book, a painting, a sculpture, a piece of music ! Depriving a deviser of credit for his creation does him far more harm than would an illegal copy which might cause some small loss of sales. We can understand how this improper habit arose: the original (R)SCDS booklets contained "traditional" dances only, with no known deviser. But ever since the Reel of the 51st Division new devisers have added beautiful dances to our repertoire. There is no excuse for denying them the credit for their creations. All descriptions, cribs and Ball programmes should ALWAYS mention the deviser for every dance. Happy dancing, Eric Eric T. Ferguson, van Dormaalstraat 15, NL-5624 KH EINDHOVEN, Netherlands tel: (+31)(0)40-243 2878 fax:40-246 7036 e-mail: x.xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xx
Oct. 8, 2001, 3:17 p.m. (Message 27781, in reply to message 27778)
Hi, I agree with Eric Ferguson, being myself an artist-painter. About devisor, why only 4 of them are mentioned (DREWRY, FOSS, COSH, HAYNES) there is enough space to print the name of the devisor. Have a look in your wee green book. Let's ask the printer for the next edition ? Cheers, MAGUY PAILLET in LYON.FRANCE
Oct. 8, 2001, 3:25 p.m. (Message 27782, in reply to message 27778)
Hi I hate so seem soppy but I agree with all the previous posters(?) - The devisors ,if known,unqueationably deserve credit AND a source for the full text version of dances would makeit possible for us to be sure that we were teaching dances according to the original devisors intent (or for those of us who like Pillings notation and convenience but insist on reconciling P. with original directions ,enablingus to teach a dance with confidence as to accuracy) Kirk Bachler Twin Cities Branch,Minnesota,USA,RSCDS
Oct. 9, 2001, 3:34 p.m. (Message 27816, in reply to message 27782)
Agreed devisors should receive credit however bear in mind that the value of Pillings is that it goes easily in a sporran (or handbag). I would prefer it stayed small and legible. That way there is more likelihood that the dances will be done. If programmes list the devisors then that should be adequate. However what about the poor composers of the music. Shouldn't they get a mention too. Its easy enough to ask the band to list the tunes they intend to play as for country dancing there isn't likely to be any improv. As a rider to this for a recent Ceilidh in the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh we were passed a schedule and required to name every tune - composer and arranger - that we intended to play for purposes of Performing Rights. On objecting we were told no schedule no dance. The result, given we make our programmes as we go to fit the dancers, was a very long list of tunes, most identified as traditional, all identified as arranged by Caerketton the name of the band. With a rider that we couldn't guarantee to play them in any specific order, number of times etc. etc. We are waiting with interest for November which is when such matters are considered, to see the royalties we got from the Gig. Bryan McAlister B Arch RIBA ARIAS Web page www.bryanmac.demon.co.uk Email xxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxxxx.xx.xx Mobile phone 07801 793849 FAX number - 0870 052 7625
Oct. 8, 2001, 2:59 p.m. (Message 27786, in reply to message 27778)
Eric Ferguson <x.xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xx> writes: > Far worse: no Pilling diagrams carry the deviser's name. That's not strictly true -- a bunch of them say `Drewry' or `Cosh'. However I agree that the WGB's attitude to crediting authors and citing sources can only be described as extremely lax. I also agree with Peter Hastings in that programmes (or cribs) should really mention a published source for a dance, if available, in addition to the deviser's name. This is not as much of an issue now that we have DanceData, but still this is helpful information that costs nothing to include and ought to be provided as a matter of course. Anselm -- Anselm Lingnau .......................................... xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Unix is not a `A-ha' experience, it is more of a `holy-shit' experience. -- Colin McFadyen in alt.folklore.computers
Oct. 8, 2001, 6:17 p.m. (Message 27787, in reply to message 27778)
> This is not as much of an issue now that we have DanceData... ...but most SCDers don't. Peter Hastings Royal Observatory Edinburgh :)
Oct. 10, 2001, 1:50 p.m. (Message 27836, in reply to message 27787)
Hi, > ...but most SCDers don't. It would be interesting to know what percentage of dancers do have access to the web. Does anyone have any guesses re this? Donna
Oct. 9, 2001, 4:21 p.m. (Message 27819, in reply to message 27778)
In a message dated 10/9/01 7:01:57 AM, xxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxxxx.xx.xx writes: << However what about the poor composers of the music. Shouldn't they get a mention too. Its easy enough to ask the band to list the tunes they intend to play as for country dancing there isn't likely to be any improv. >> I think that most composers are glad when sheet music has their name attached to it. At least the recognition is seen by the band. That is all that's required unless someone wishes to record it. That, however, is another issue. I devise dances and compose dance music myself and don't feel any need to include my name in a program. The MC may choose to mention it but it is not required. It would also depend on whether the person made a living writting and performing music. Acknowledgement might be more important in that case. Bob Mc Murtry Felton, Calif