The Next Page: Stephen Foster 2010 -- Doo-Dah in the Digital Age
Share with others:
Nearly a century and a half after his death, the legacy of Stephen Foster is alive and thriving. The composer of "Oh! Susanna," "The Old Folks at Home" and "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" continues to speak to new generations. The Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre's current production of "Beautiful Dreamers" -- a new musical built around Foster's songs -- is only the latest example of this Lawrenceville native's enduring popularity.
Foster holds the distinction of being America's first professional songwriter. He struggled to support himself and his family by writing songs and nothing else -- then and now, a difficult proposition. Among his greatest accomplishments was to establish the idea that songwriters should receive royalties for their work. In the process, he helped to raise the value of songs from disposable trifles into substantial intellectual properties.
As someone who has made a living as a song lyricist, I've found special meaning in Foster's story. Lately, I've been thinking about his career and the parallels between his time and ours.
I'm struck by how hard he worked to sustain his career -- and how the gains he made for the benefit of future songwriters are under attack today.
IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE University of Pittsburgh's Stephen Foster Memorial, there are copies of publishing contracts signed by Foster in the 1850s. Written in the songwriter's own neatly flowing hand, they are believed to be the first of their kind in America. In the earliest contract, Foster secured a 10 percent royalty rate for retail sheet music sales of his songs, breaking with the common practice of selling songs outright to publishers. A clause requiring his publisher to "obtain justice and compensation" from anyone infringing upon the copyrights of his songs was also included. Considering how often the rights to songs slipped away from composers back then, this was a major victory.
These contracts were the first links in a long chain of legal protections for songwriters. The enactment of international copyright agreements and the creation of the first performing rights organization (The American Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers, or ASCAP) in 1914 allowed composers and lyricists to collect earnings unavailable in Foster's lifetime.
First Published April 25, 2010 12:49 pm
