I found an interesting reference to Piano Society here

http://my.opera.com/edwardpiercy/blog/2 ... ano-pieces

Always nice to know that we are saving people money

I meant to show you this before, but forgot...

At least he credits PS and our names. Maybe we should join his blog

(kidding)

Hmm, you don't seem to be taking this seriously. It's a clear violation of the rules that we've got posted at http://server3.pianosociety.com/cms/ind ... section=14 . I could leave a comment on his blog to that effect, but it would be better if it came from one of you guys.

Yes, of course we're saving people money, I don't have a problem with that. But they should still treat the site in a respectful manner. In particular, copyright still belongs to the artist who posted each recording--we have at least some small measure of control over how these recordings are used--iif we don't ask people to respect that, then it will discourage newcomers from uploading recordings in the future.

There are so many sites that swipe our recordings! Some we allow, like Classic Cat, ISMLP, and Wiki. But we can't put a stop to all the mp3 download sites; there must be dozens now. And frankly, I don't really care if they take my recordings as long as they credit me and Piano Society. It's the ones who take a recording and try to pass it off as their own that is very maddening! That happens often on Youtube.

Yes, we can't put a stop to it completely. I certainly don't expect you to spend your whole life patrolling the internet checking for this sort of thing. But if you've actually found this particular case, and not taken the trouble to even make a comment on the site, then it leaves me wondering.

Besides, most of those mp3 download sites are direct links to the files here: they're not actually duplicating the file on their own server. So if I decide to withdraw a recording from this site, or replace it with a newer version, then the old one isn't hanging around on other people's sites. The blog you've found is a different matter: he's copying the files onto his own server, so that we have no further control over those copies getting redistributed.

What's the problem with Classic Cat? They link to the performers' pages here, not directly to the files: they're doing exactly what's in our published rules.

We can only do so much. If someone does not want their recordings to become 'public', then he/she should not put them up here on PS or anywhere else on the Internet. And there is nothing wrong with Classic Cat; we DO have an arrangement with them - perhaps I wasn't clear before.

I would say the rule was misunderstood. After all people reason this way:

"I have earned nothing and I have given credits, so what is wrong?"

I must admit having never seen these rules They were probably laid down before my time here (yes, there was such a time ).
It did occur to me that he's actually copied the files, whereas most sites will link to PS. Thinking about it, it does not seem to matter so much - as long as people don't make money from our recordings. I'd say this blog is a good bit of promotion for the site.

I'll suggest to him that he uses links though - if only to have the latest versions of recordings.

At least he's using his own bandwidth.

I'd suggest that he appears to be sharing them with a few internet buddies (and not profiting from them), and were site admin to protest about his manner of sharing it just makes PS look churlish when the files have been offered for free usage in the first place. The copyright policy, as far as I can see, isn't obviously stated when downloading. The internet is essentially unpoliceable in any case.

Yep, agreed with all that. It's just not worth the hassle. Still I'll suggest he uses links because recordings do get replaced now and then.

Actually at one stage we tried to prevent hotlinking directly to the mp3's, the idea being that people should be made to go to the PS pages and read the blurb. It did not work, IIRC, and we abandoned the idea.

I do not know about you, but the other day I found my picture illustrating an article about some small town in Germany and I find material from some of my sites in the most incredible places. I also find a petition I wrote to the European Parliament in all sorts of blogs and forums, and whereas it makes my country look foolish, it does keep them on their toes.

I remember complaining about that because it made it impossible to open up recordings in a separate tab or window.