I want to use music from a recording I have, but do not not how to
locate or ask permission of the copyright holder.

The CD is entitled "The Musical Sea of Tranquility" by Chris
Valentino. The cover says "copyright 1987 Peaceful Productions for
Nancy Music Company."

I want to use this CD as the backing music for a Sleep Affirmations CD
I am creating.  I am prepared to pay a small royalty (you can buy the
CD on Ebay for $0.75).

Can someone please give me advice, including an email address for the
current copyright holder.

Thank you.

Terry

Hi lottomasta,

The Nancy Music Company is an imprint of the Plymouth Music Company,
Inc, therefore you need to contact the Plymouth Music Company by 
phone or mail (sorry, they do not post an email address). Following
are two contacts (one in New Jersey, the other in Florida) along with
how I found this information (will be useful for your future
projects). Contact the New Jersey address first and just tell them
exactly what you want to do.

"Below are the imprints that Plymouth Music Company, Inc. has reported
that it handles for sales, copyright clearances, or both. An
asterisk(*) following an imprint indicates that Plymouth Music
Company, Inc. is a resource for sales of the printed music. It may
also be the contact for copyright clearances. If you have questions,
contact Plymouth Music Company, Inc.."
[snip]
Nancy Music Company *
[snip]
http://www.mpa.org/agency/imprintsn.html

The Music Publishers' Association of the United States, Copyright
Resource Center, has an easy to follow guide. You'll also find other
useful links there.
http://www.mpa.org/copyright/copysearch.html

Welcome To The Copyright Information Resource Guide
"If you are looking for the publisher of a piece of music, you may be
able to locate this information using the search engines at the web
sites listed below. This resource guide will provide the necessary
steps to assist you in your search.
Follow these easy steps:
   1. If you have a copy of the music, examine the music for the
copyright holder or publisher's name.

[Nancy Music Company]

   2. A. If the publisher or copyright holder is listed on the music,
OR if you already know the publisher and need address information:
         1. Search the Music Publisher Directory and/or the index of
Publishers' Imprints (which contains hypertext links to entries in the
Publishers Directory) for the publisher's address and additional
information.

Copyright Imprints: N
Nancy Music Company [imprint of] Plymouth Music Company, Inc. * 
Plymouth Music Company, Inc.
Address: 76 Spenser Drive
Short Hills, NJ 07078
Contact:   Bernard Fisher
Telephone: (908) 704-4546	
Member of: (C/N) Church Music Publishers' Association ; National Music
Publishers' Association
Imprints handled by Plymouth Music Company, Inc. 
http://www.mpa.org/agency/imprintsn.html


Plymouth Music Company, Inc. 
170 N.E. 33rd Street Fort Lauderdale FL 33334 
Bernard Fisher Phone (305) 563-1844 Fax (305) 563-9006 
http://www.spiderblue.com/publishers.html

Music Yellow Pages:
Publishers & Distributors of Printed Music
Plymouth Music Company, Inc.
170 Northeast 33rd Street
Fort Lauderdale   FL 33334
Phone: 954 563-1844
Fax: 954 563-9006
http://www.musicyellowpages.com/datatest/ylistings.php?gt=0&categoryID=72&category=Publishers+%26+Distributors+of+Printed+Music


I was glad to find this for you.. If you have any questions, please
post a clarification request and wait for me to respond before
closing/rating my answer.

Thank you,
hummer

Google Search Terms Used:

"Plymouth Music Company" 
"Nancy Music Company"

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 09 Aug 2005 08:44 PDT

Terry, ipfan has a good idea (as usual) but please contact Plymouth Music.

Licensing through HFA  	  
"It should be noted that a mechanical license does not include the
right to reproduce an already existing sound recording (called a
master use right). That is a separate right, which must be procured
from the copyright owner of such sound recording."
http://www.harryfox.com/public/licenseHome.jsp

Mechanical Licensing
"It should be noted that a mechanical license does not include the
right to reproduce an already existing sound recording. That is a
separate right, called a Master Use Right, which must be procured from
the copyright owner of such sound recording."
http://www.harryfox.com/public/licenseeServicesMechanical.jsp

"Please Note : If you are duplicating from pre-recorded material or
"sampling", you must also obtain a MASTER RECORDING LICENSE directly
from the record company that owns the master to the recording."
http://search.songfile.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?PROCFUN+HFAPROC001+DSPFRM

Regards,
hummer

Excellent answer and very thorough, Thank You

Rather than attempting to locate the copyright owner and negotiating
with them directly, you could obtain a mechanical license through the
Harry Fox Agency.  See
http://www.harryfox.com/public/mechanicalLicense.jsp and
http://www.harryfox.com/public/licenseMechanical.jsp

Hummer,

Thank you for correcting that.  My bad.

Regards, 
IPFan

It's ok, IPFan, your advice is always worth reading, whether it applies or not. 

Take care, 
hummer

Thank you, Terry, I'm happy you are happy. Good luck with your CD! Sincerely, hummer