Who owns the copyright in the UK on a piece of music which I can email
(as MP3) to anyone taking up the question (if this is possible)?

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Request for Question Clarification by missy-ga on 25 Feb 2003 05:04 PST

Good morning!

I'm afraid you won't be able to e-mail an MP3 directly to a
Researcher.  You can, however, upload it to webspace (you should be
able to register for a free account at Yahoo-Geocities), or just let
us know the title of the song and the performer (if you know it).

--Missy

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Clarification of Question by shanemcc-ga on 25 Feb 2003 07:18 PST

The music has been uploaded to 

http://www.geocities.com/shanemccracken2003/index.html

I know the artist (it is me) but it is the confirmation of what tune
it is and who if anyone owns the copyright that is the trouble!

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Request for Question Clarification by missy-ga on 25 Feb 2003 10:14 PST

Hi again, 

I've sifted through my own snippet files, asked my classical music fan
husband, and have tried several other sound banks, to no avail.  I've
been unable to secure definite identification of it.

Perhaps another Researcher has wider resources to draw from.  I'm
sorry I wasn't able to identify it for you.

--Missy

Dear shanemcc,

The tune is known under many names in various European countries,
like:

- "Flohwalzer" ('Flea Waltz' - Germany)

- "Kotelett-Walzer" ('Chop Waltz' - Switzerland)

- "De Vlooienmars" ('The Flea March' - Netherlands)

- "Frikadellens flugt over plankeværket" ('Rissole Jumps Down The
Plank - Denmark)

- "I Love Coffee, I Love Tea" (Great Britain)

However, the composer of the tune is unknown, no matter what it is
called. In Germany, it is commonly referred to as a "Volkslied", in
Great Britain this would be a "traditional". According to British law,
no one can claim copyright for a traditional song, only for a
particular arrangement or recording of the same. The tune itself
remains public domain, like "Greensleeves". In this case, for example,
the British pianist Russ Conway recorded an uptempo version of the
tune and named it "Lesson One" (the single reached #21 on the British
charts in early '62, by the way). But copyright does only apply to
that recording, not to the basic composition.

It might be interesting that, in some German sources, a certain
Ferdinand Loh is named as composer of the "Flohwalzer". Don't take
this for serious! The author Eric Baumann wrote a satire some years
ago, in which he alleged that this F.Loh had composed the well-known
tune. Look closely at the 'composer's' name: F.Loh = Floh = Flea.
Unfortunately, some people did not understand that it was only a
humoristic hoax, and now fictitious Ferdinand Loh shows up from time
to time as the composer of the "Flohwalzer", and this misunderstanding
is even present in some non-German sources. But F.Loh was no actual
person, so the public domain status of the tune is not affected.

Sources:

Catchy Tune Central: The Samples
http://ctc.portland.co.uk/samples.html

"en blanc et noir" Klavierforum - Satire, by Dieter K., 26 Oct 2002
http://f27.parsimony.net/forum66496/messages/21.htm

Oldies-Archives.de Forum: Re: Floh-Walzer, by Hans Ulrich Wittwer, 01
Jan 2003 (in Google Cache!)
://www.google.de/search?q=cache:zA6LR0PSojQC:www.oldies-archives.de/forum/messages/1254.html+kottelet+walzer&hl=de&ie=UTF-8

Search terms used:
flohwalzer composer
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=flohwalzer+composer&meta=
flohwalzer "public domain"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=flohwalzer+%22public+domain%22&meta=
"flea waltz " midi
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22flea+waltz+%22+midi&meta=
flohwalzer traditional
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=flohwalzer+traditional&meta=
flohwalzer
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=flohwalzer&meta=
"ferdinand loh"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22ferdinand+loh%22&meta=
chopsticks composer
://www.google.de/search?q=chopsticks+composer&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&meta=

Hope this helps!
Best regards,
Scriptor

Excellent.  Fortunately my partner speaks fluent german so we can read
the rest of links!  Thank you.