The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

It's 2025, and that means the US copyright on almost everything (not sound recordings or a few other loose ends) first published in 1929 has now expired and those items are now in the public domain. This means they can be freely used by anyone for any purpose without payment of royalties.

1929 is a very relevant year for us Edison fans, as that is the last year that Edison made and commercially released records to the general public. This means that all the compositions on Edison records are now public domain - but the sound recordings technically are not. Edison sound recordings will be public domain on 1/1/2030 under current rules, but realistically, no one is actively claiming copyright on them anyway.

Sound recordings from 1924 became public domain this year, notably Gershwin's first recording of Rhapsody in Blue on Victor.

Standard legal disclaimer applies.

Here's a nice copy played at the correct speed:
https://i78s.org/preview/04efd4096ad37d ... d1701f3654
https://i78s.org/preview/0e5afe4d678c85 ... 871f2dcb96
Enjoy!

It's said that there was an argument in the course of the recording, and Paul get angry and went away, so the the takes at the end of the session were actually directed by Nat Shilkret.

I think you're confusing the two versions. The 1924 acoustic version was definitely Whiteman, but the 1927 electric version reportedly involved Shilkret.

Ah, yes, that's it! Thanks.