Mechanical (& other) Copyright Stamps
Last Update 12 September
2009
Published in March 2007, Adam Miller's
The World-wide Catalogue & Handbook of Stamps issued under Copyright
Acts, describes the background to the stamps, and catalogues in
considerable detail the issues of over 220 companies and individuals
from over a dozen countries.
In August 2008 it won a GOLD medal at
the APS Stampshow in Hartford, CT.
The book runs to
240 A4 pages and catalogues around 4,000 different stamps including
many sub-varieties. There are over 1000 full-colour illustrations throughout
of the stamps and their usage. The introduction covers the background
to the issuance of the stamps, printed indicia, usage of the stamps on
other than 78rpm labels (illustrated with examples), a detailed description
of the catalogue itself, and a section on collecting the stamps.
The comprehensive
reference section includes an inventory of known multiples, a bibliography
of published articles, a listing of auction entries, background references
of the issuers and an index.
Printed in an initial
run of just 100 copies, this can be yours for just NZ$100 plus p&p.
Price reduced to clear
last few copies.
Click on the cover above to view some sample pages and
see the purchasing information.
Copyright Stamps Newsletter #1 - December
2008 - new issuers uncovered since the book was published
(PDF, 2.8MB, print-ready)
Copyright Stamps Newsletter #2 - September
2009 - new issuers, and many new types from known issuers
(PDF, 2.1MB, print-ready)
What they are.
These stamps were issued to show the
pre-payment of mechanical copyright royalties due under
various Copyright Acts and General Regulations. They were first
introduced in the UK in July 1912, and had largely faded by the
Second World War, although in Australia the continued well into the
1950s. They were intended to be affixed to the record, pianola roll
or cylinder box to show the royalty had been paid.
A longer article is here.
Issuers by Category
Each category has a list of the relevant
issues, by country. A few issuers have a linked page which
shows the basic stamp types issued, and some detail of these, per
the "Stamps on Music" catalogue.
The terms used are defined here.
Unless otherwise shown, all images on the subsequent pages are scanned
at 200% for an 800x600 256 colour display (75dpi). Record
labels are generally scanned actual size. The stamps below are
actual size at 100dpi.
-
Music Publishers
-
Record companies
-
Copyright Agencies
-
Composers
-
Miscellaneous & Unknown
-
Purchase Tax stamps
Gallery
A selection of images of records, rolls, stamps and sheet
music relating to mechanical copyright stamps.
©Adam
Miller 1997-2009
Total Visitors: 
Last updates
30/08/2009 Added new details for Acuff-Rose, American
Associated, A&R, Bassett, Boosey, Basil Dean
2/12/2008 Added first Newsletter
21/6/2007 Added a bunch of new
sets to the Gallery
26/5/2007 Added J. Albert, Allans
detail types.
26/1/2007 Book publicity
added, removed obsolete stuff
13/4/2006 Added Help
Wanted
27/1/2006 Added
assorted new issuers, courtesy of C.T.
30/12/2005 Added Gallery items, notably Sample Sets and more
items on Pianola Rolls, Sheet music and large blocks
29/12/2005 Added Music Publisher company details for Allans,
Associated Copyrights, Boosey & Co, L. F. Collin, D. Davis &
Nicholson
24/1/2005 Added new
Gallery items
8/1/2005
Added 12 new issuers, updated other images, esp. Miscellaneous
15/11/2003 Some additional
publishers images e.g. Carisch
15/1/2003
Added list of overprinted names
26/05/2002 Added
LOTS of stamp images to the main lists below - will take longer
to load now, but worth it
23/01/2002 R.L. Stevenson Copyright stamps
15/10/2001 (new
entries in stamp issuer tables)
(78rpm records
pressed in New Zealand)
1/8/2001
(new entries in Australian and New Zealand 78s)
24/7/2001 (US Patent & License royalty stamps)
21/7/2001 (Miscellaneous
& Unknown, Gallery additions)
29/4/2001 (Australian and New Zealand 78s)
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