Mechanical (& other) Copyright Stamps
Last Update 31 July
2011
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 is now out of print
Click on the cover above to view some sample pages
and see more information.
Newsletters!
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)
Copyright Stamps Newsletter #3 - July
2011 - almost all new issuers, plus book review of a
new work on copyright stamps in Germany (PDF, 4MB, 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 1997-2011
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