Savvy Widows Leverage Jazz Legends' Legacies

[mjzee]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791704575114130638626588.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_TOPRightCarousel

[JSngry]

Mrs. Bellson earned degrees from Harvard and MIT and spent her career as an engineer in Silicon Valley, later working as her husband's personal manager. Yet she was unprepared for the nuances of the music industry.

Most people are...

"nuances", eh?

[bertrand]

Laurie is a very smart lady.

Bertrand.

[GA Russell]

Great article! Thanks mjz!

[PHILLYQ]

Mrs. Bellson earned degrees from Harvard and MIT and spent her career as an engineer in Silicon Valley, later working as her husband's personal manager. Yet she was unprepared for the nuances of the music industry.

Most people are...

Nuances = theft,exploitation, dirty dealings

"nuances", eh?

[BillF]

Some interesting writing from Marc Myers nowadays! Apart from his daily Jazzwax offerings, we now have him writing the liner notes for a recent reissue of Way Out West, as well as this item in the Wall Street Journal.

[paul secor]

Mrs. Bellson earned degrees from Harvard and MIT and spent her career as an engineer in Silicon Valley, later working as her husband's personal manager. Yet she was unprepared for the nuances of the music industry.

Most people are...

"nuances", eh?

Reminded me of a classic quote attributed to Hunter S. Thompson:

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

These words supposedly were written about the television biz but, hey, they ring true about the music industry.

[Brad]

Great article. I don't care whether you're a musician or a company or whatever: intellectual property is your lifeblood and if you don't protect it, you're screwed.

[marcello]

I've heard some rather negative things about Mrs. Bellson and how she "managed" Louie in his last years.

Exploited is a better term.

[MartyJazz]

Great article! Thanks mjz!

Also available from Marc Myers' blog JazzWax which you can subscribe to and thereby regularly receive his columns via e-mail:

http://www.jazzwax.com/

He spices his columns with lots of unique photos and interviews as well.

Edited May 14, 2010 by MartyJazz

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Very interesting article. I hope Sheila Earland gets to read it. She is, I think, sitting on at least 19 albums Charles made and sold on K7 at gigs.

MG

[Neal Pomea]

I don't think this article quite comes across the way it was intended.

If Art Pepper HAD caused someone's death or injury in an episode of drug-induced negligence, we would not be congratulating his wife for keeping his intellectual property wealth off the table in a lawsuit by the victim's family.

I bet, for the average reader, long copyright terms mean money for nothing for the heirs of the owners of companies that bought out earlier defunct companies that ripped off artists. Let artists provide for their families with real wealth handed down, and let the heirs create on their own.

Edited May 14, 2010 by It Should be You

[paul secor]

I don't think this article quite comes across the way it was intended.

If Art Pepper HAD caused someone's death or injury in an episode of drug-induced negligence, we would not be congratulating his wife for keeping his intellectual property wealth off the table in a lawsuit by the victim's family.

I bet, for the average reader, long copyright terms mean money for nothing for the heirs of the owners of companies that bought out earlier defunct companies that ripped off artists. Let artists provide for their families with real wealth handed down, and let the heirs create on their own.

This has been argued before, but why not again. To me, there's no difference between a parent or relative bequeathing a house or money to heirs and a musician or author bequeathing the rights to the works they created. That is their heritage and their "real wealth", as you call it.

Others, including yourself, think differently.

[AllenLowe]

I'm of several minds on this, none of them really hinged correctly.

On the one hand, if my Daddy was Charlie Parker, I'd want the cash.

But since my REAL Daddy left me nothing but bad memories and some unpaid bills, I am happy to make them public domain.

[GA Russell]

Paul, the US Constitution specifically refers to copyright and the limited period of time that it should exist.

The idea is that works of art should be available to the public. That makes it different in the US from typical family assets.

[paul secor]

Paul, the US Constitution specifically refers to copyright and the limited period of time that it should exist.

The idea is that works of art should be available to the public. That makes it different in the US from typical family assets.

Yeah, & "works of art" should be protected under the time limits of the copyright laws. That's not what It Should be You was saying.

[Brad]

To be honest I'm not exactly sure what he's saying except that he seems to be mixing concepts: protecting IP and making that subject to lawsuit.

[mspepper]

I don't think this article quite comes across the way it was intended.

If Art Pepper HAD caused someone's death or injury in an episode of drug-induced negligence, we would not be congratulating his wife for keeping his intellectual property wealth off the table in a lawsuit by the victim's family.

I bet, for the average reader, long copyright terms mean money for nothing for the heirs of the owners of companies that bought out earlier defunct companies that ripped off artists. Let artists provide for their families with real wealth handed down, and let the heirs create on their own.

Gotta chime in. I was Art's manager, ran his publishing company (which I created), and I affiliated him with BMI. I worked with him on the book, Straight Life, and that helped resuscitate his career (and incidentally, made more of his music available to more people). I handled his contracts and He relied on me 24/7. I took care of him. Like many artists, Art had some serious (and lifelong) mental problems. If I could have persuaded the State of California to confiscate his driver's license, I would have done it. I did try.

Before he died Art told me that he was glad to be leaving me "well provided for." Because I would be his widow, and he was an oldfashioned guy.

You ask good questions, "It Should Be..." Would I have been at fault, and ought I to have been punished if he HAD hurt somebody? When there was nothing I could do to prevent it?

Or are the record companies and publishing companies of old the only ones who should have be permitted to benefit from the work of artists and musicians? Because if there's no-one to inherit, that's who winds up with everything.

And should wives not benefit from the work of their husbands? No matter what that work is? And, shouldn't husbands benefit vice versa? Isn't marriage a partnership? And what about the kids? Should no one ever inherit anything on the basis of familial or marital ties? I'm not being snide, those are really good questions. Andrew Carnegie, I believe, left everything to his projects and charities. But speaking for myself, I'm grateful everyday that my husband left me with a catalog of tunes and recordings (that lots of people love and can't get enough of.) And I'm more grateful than I can say that he never hurt anyone besides himself.

-- Laurie

Edited May 16, 2010 by mspepper

[bakeostrin]

I don't think this article quite comes across the way it was intended.

If Art Pepper HAD caused someone's death or injury in an episode of drug-induced negligence, we would not be congratulating his wife for keeping his intellectual property wealth off the table in a lawsuit by the victim's family.

I bet, for the average reader, long copyright terms mean money for nothing for the heirs of the owners of companies that bought out earlier defunct companies that ripped off artists. Let artists provide for their families with real wealth handed down, and let the heirs create on their own.

Gotta chime in. I was Art's manager, ran his publishing company (which I created), and I affiliated him with BMI. I worked with him on the book, Straight Life, and that helped resuscitate his career (and incidentally, made more of his music available to more people). I handled his contracts and He relied on me 24/7. I took care of him. Like many artists, Art had some serious (and lifelong) mental problems. If I could have persuaded the State of California to confiscate his driver's license, I would have done it. I did try.

Before he died Art told me that he was glad to be leaving me "well provided for." Because I would be his widow, and he was an oldfashioned guy.

You ask good questions, "It Should Be..." Would I have been at fault, and ought I to have been punished if he HAD hurt somebody? When there was nothing I could do to prevent it?

Or are the record companies and publishing companies of old the only ones who should have be permitted to benefit from the work of artists and musicians? Because if there's no-one to inherit, that's who winds up with everything.

And should wives not benefit from the work of their husbands? No matter what that work is? And, shouldn't husbands benefit vice versa? Isn't marriage a partnership? And what about the kids? Should no one ever inherit anything on the basis of familial or marital ties? I'm not being snide, those are really good questions. Andrew Carnegie, I believe, left everything to his projects and charities. But speaking for myself, I'm grateful everyday that my husband left me with a catalog of tunes and recordings (that lots of people love and can't get enough of.) And I'm more grateful than I can say that he never hurt anyone besides himself.

-- Laurie

Marriage is a partnership. California law explicitly recognizes this principle with the rule of community property, providing a spouse with a half interest in what the other spouse earns or produces during the marriage.

And thank you Laurie Pepper; I have done so personally when I met you at a west coast jazz festival about four years ago (you signed my multiple copies of "Straight Life." As an Art Pepper fan, jazz fan and book collector, I extremely grateful in your efforts in support of your late husband and his work.

Baker