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Demo Tapes, etc. in Archives



Hello List.
 
This is different from but tangentially related to the question concerning making available oral histories where no release forms are on file:
 
I would be interested in hearing from archivists who have found themselves dealing with collections of organizational records that include materials submitted to the organization by people not affiliated by that organization.  Specifically, I am thinking of the many types of organizations that may have sponsored a performance event to which people applied by sending demo tapes (audio or video), promotional packets, photos, etc.  I'm trying to assess how an archive that houses the organizational records should address these materials from third party sources.
 
In the past 15 years I've worked in a variety of archival settings, but most of these were inclined to accept or actively collect records from such entities as recording labels, music festivals, and arts organizations.  It often has been the case that the archives ended up with, say, tapes (published and unpublished) submitted to a record label, a song publishing company, an arts organization, etc. by people interested in either being accepted for a performance roster or getting their material recorded or published. Keeping these submissions is helpful in demonstrating or documenting the scope of the organization's activities, but since each submission probably reflects copyrighted work(s), what is the consensus about the limitations on a) receiving these into an archive, and b) making them available to researchers?
 
Often the sheer number of these items precludes any kind of individualized "search" for controlling parties to obtain clarification of their status.  For a specific example, I can think of a southern record label and music publishing firm that received tapes on a daily basis (ca. 1965-1985) from aspiring song writers and recording artists often accompanied by typed or handwritten lyric sheets and correspondence.  Taken as a whole, the body of such material amassed by the company over a period of several decades can reveal a tremendous amount about the hopes and dreams of ordinary "amateur" musicians as well as their circumstances, their treatment during the quest for public recognition, and their stylistic influences and contributions to popular music. In short, the materials provide a flip side to the portrait of American music most often revealed through "published" and or "commercial" channels.  But-- and herein lies the rub-- none of these people imagined that their demo tapes (often homemade) would end up in a public archive.  There is nothing that explicitly permits these materials to be kept or made available outside the context of the original submission.  I am inclined to think that such materials might be made available, if at all, for personal use and study only under Fair Use, but I would appreciate hearing the interpretations of others who've found themselves addressing similar collections.  Surely, the records of book publishers include all manner of unpublished manuscripts, so what is the status of such materials as far as an archive is concerned?
 
I suppose there is a precedent set by correspondence since most of us, when we write a letter, do not anticipate that the papers of the person (or organization) we are writing might one day end up in an archive.  Wasn't this the gist of the famous Sallinger case?  Does this mean that anytime someone drops a letter or other item in the mail, there is the potential for it to surface many years later in an archive open to the public?  The difference here is that the material refrred to above was submitted originally in hopes of financial gain and / or public artistic exposure.
 
Since archives are usually without any forms to help govern the use of such material, what guidelines have people used in administering these things?
 
Thanks for your thoughts,
 
Steve Green
Western Folklife Center
501 Railroad Street
Elko, NV 89801
sgreen@westernfolklife.org