Jan 10, 2013 at 2:14 PM | MusicNews | By Rock Square

Okay, collectors, brace yourselves and try not to drool all over your keyboards: as 2012 drew to a close two weeks ago, Sony Music released a ridiculously limited edition box set of Bob Dylan demo recordings from 1962. 100 copies of the four-disc 50th Anniversary Collection were released to a few “random” record stores in the UK, Germany, France and Sweden.

Yes, only 100 copies. Good luck getting your hands on one of those puppies!

What’s this mega-rare set all about, then? Well, we’re getting into the realm of arcane copyright law here, so let’s say we let a professional explain the nature of this beast.

"This isn't a scheme to make money," said an unnamed source from Sony Music. “The copyright law in Europe was recently extended from 50 to 70 years for everything recorded in 1963 and beyond. With everything before that, there's a new 'Use It or Lose It' provision. It basically said, 'If you haven't used the recordings in the first 50 years, you aren't going to get any more.'"

Basically, the recordings in question were just about to celebrate their 51st birthday, and unless Sony did something (anything) with them, they’d have made it into the public domain. Which is not the sort of thing a record label wants to happen.

"The whole point of copyrighting this stuff is that we intend to do something with it at some point in the future," the source explained. "But it wasn't the right time to do it right after he released Tempest. There are other things we want to do in 2013 though."

The upshot of this, of course, is that Dylan fans and collectors now have a prize treasure to covet and yearn for. Happy hunting!

Don't have the cash for the Dylan Box set? Don't fear here's a couple fine art prints from Rockarchive that do him justice. 

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