The following from the daily update of the American Symphony Orchestra
League sounds to me, like a step in the right direction...or perhaps a
step in the direction of sanity...

   "Orch managers working on agreement for self-produced recordings

   In Sunday's Akron Beacon Journal, Elaine Guregian writes: "The
   number of symphony orchestras offering music to download could
   go from a trickle to a downpour if a pending agreement for
   self-produced recordings were approved."

   Guregian quotes Gary Hanson, chair of the Orchestra Managers'
   Media Committee: "There are ongoing discussions between a group
   of 50 orchestra managers and the American Federation of Musicians
   ... for a national self-produced recording agreement."  Guregian
   adds, "If this new self-recording agreement were reached,
   orchestras who made their own recordings would actually retain
   the copyright. That's crucial, since as the copyright owners,
   they would have the legal right to sell the music for downloading."
   Guregian notes, "Nationally, several models are being tested for
   making orchestras part of the iPod nation," citing the New York
   and Los Angeles philharmonics' new agreements to release live
   concert recordings to the iTunes Music Store."

Karl