We do not own the copyrights to any of the shows available on this site. We believe that the copyrights have expired, or that the shows are in the public domain because they were never copyrighted. We do not sell the recordings or charge for access to our site for copyright material.

We are trying to bring the exciting world of Old Time Radio to a whole new generation of listeners using the new technology of the Internet.

Note: I Make No Money On This Website And Some Users Have Access To Upload For Credit To Download. I Have No Idea If What They Upload Is Copyrighted Or Currently Has A Active Copyright.

This Is Not A Business For Me (I Am Retired Military) This Is Only A Hobby And To Keep Old Time Radio Alive. What Money I Do Get For Access To The FTP Site Does Not Completely Pay The Bills For The Server, Website And Internet Access. We Are Not Trying To Deprive The Original Creators Of Any Money Due To Them, And We Will Remove Any Recording From Our Site That Does Violate A Copyright.

If You Are A Copyright Owner Or Know Of Any File On The Sparta FTP Site As Being Copyrighted Please Just Let Me Know What The Shows Are. I do also host newer radio shows and have been told by many of the owners it was ok to host the shows since i am not really charging for them and they would like the publicity. There Is No Need For Threats Against Me, I Have A Bad Heart And I Have No Assets Except For A Rented Single Wide Trailer, And A Rusty Blue Yugo (That You Can Have If You Tow It Away For Me).

If Requested:

I Will Remove The Shows\Series Without Question, All I Need Is The Company Who Owns The Show\Series And A Web Link If Avail. If You Wish I Will Also Add The Show\Series To My "Do not Upload (List Of Shows).txt" File In My Upload Area. Also If You Wish To Have A One Page Information Sheet Of A Series You Own With Any Links On It To Another Site I Will Gladly Host The Page For You So Users Can Buy The Shows From You. I Would Just Need You To Get With Me And Submit The Page With Any Images And I Will Put It Up For You On My Web Site.

You Will Also Have My Utmost Apology, Mark

Below is some basic info on the copyrights for Old Time Radio Shows. I am not a lawyer, and the information contained in this page is not meant to be legal advice. It is just indented to give you an overview of the various copyright issues involved:  

Length of copyrights:
http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm

General OTR Copyright Info:
http://www22.brinkster.com/paradio/pages/lawj.htm
http://www.cni.org/cgi-bin/swish-bin/CNI-COPYRIGHT.pl?keyword=Old+Radio&results=0

  The following are some arguments showing Old Time Radio Shows are not covered by any copyrights   http://www22.brinkster.com/paradio/pages/flip.htm
Library of Congress statements that the original recordings presented here are within the Public Domain, since they were NOT qualified for copyright protection when presented, nor was any attempt to place them under such copyright protection was made when the window of opportunity for such existed in 1978-1979 when the copyright law regarding such recordings changed. (Such had to be submitted to the Congressional Record for reinstatement at that time, and NO US Broadcasts from the 1929 thru 1950 period was filed for at that time in the Congressional Record - only a few foreign language audio recordings were so filed for in that period, none of which are here in our Library Collection.  

Many people feel that the old time radio trademarks are abandoned since they were never enforced and are virtually worthless: http://www22.brinkster.com/paradio/pages1/abandon.htm

Any lawsuit for copyright infringement needs to be brought about by the real parties in interest (the actual copyright holder or assignee), not somebody else on their behalf. Without a federally registered copyright (which automatically would carry a presumption of validity), the burden of proof is on the person bringing the lawsuit to prove that they own a valid copyright for the work.

Registration Issues: Although failure to register a copyright does not affect its validity, a copyright must be registered before an infringement action can be filed under current federal copyright law. Registration must be made within three months after publication or before the occurrence of an infringement in order for statutory damages and attorney's fees to be available to the plaintiff. Otherwise only actual damages may be awarded (17 USC §§ 411, 412).

Radio shows created before January 1, 1978 are protected by the Copyright Act of 1909 rather than the Copyright Act of 1976
(http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hlc) because according to case law any copyright determinations must be made according the copyright law as it existed before that date.