Thanks to all who tried to help me out.  My help will finally be coming
from an anonymous source...  You might be interested to know that I tried
using toothpaste to polish the scratch, and it allowed me to go much
further in that particular cut, but in the end it still aborted.  i
didn't want to keep buffing...  but I may once I get a replacement.
DECCA has not yet answered my emails.

I have no idea how the scratch got on there.  Sometimes I think that
when you stick a CD into your computer's drive slot (as in an Apple
Powerbook, where there is no tray but just a slot) it can easily get a
scratch or a scuff.  But that's the only way to upload them...  What's
a person to do?!?  (Rhetorical question, no need to tell me to get a
WinDoze PC...)

Thanks again,

Miguel Muelle
http://mmuelle.home.mindspring.com