Pre-1972 sound recordings had no Federal copyright protection, but they are still well protected under state law .
This has been reviewed independently by several copyright attorneys across the U.S. Each has confidently and independently reported that between federal and state copyright protection,virtually every sound recording in the USA is protected until the year 2067. The Copyright Act expressly provides that with respect to sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, all rights or remedies under the common law or statutes of any state shall not be annulled or limited by the Copyright Act until February 15, 2067.
After that date, the Copyright Act shall preempt state claims, effectively divesting pre-1972 sound recordings of any available production as of February 16, 2067.
"..... the exclusive rights of the owner of copyright in a sound recording under clauses (1) and (2) of section 106 do not extend to the making or duplication of another sound recording that consists entirely of an independent fixation of other sounds, even though such sounds imitate or simulate those in the copyrighted sound recording. "
Soundalike recordings,as described above in section 114 (b) of U.S. Copyright law are legal . The ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is the international identification system for sound recordings and music videorecordings. Each ISRC is a unique and permanent identifier for a specific recording which can be permanently encoded into a product as its digital fingerprint. Encoded ISRC provide the means to automatically identify recordings for royalty payments.
The digital recordings from 108th Street Records have been ISRC encoded.