Jazz

Jazz (재즈) is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in black communities in New Orleans and other Southern cities of the United States.

Jazz was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. In Korea, it has been a rath marginalized music genre with only a small portion of the population devoloping a passion for it.

At present, a variety of jazz musicians from the old guys of age over 70, who are assoicated with the world famous film "Buena Vista Social Club", to the America-educated youngsters, who have just returned from the United States, are performing attractive jazz numbers at Daehak-ro (meaning the University Street in downtown Seoul) and Itaewon.

Jazz in Korea has affected other genre of contemporary music and inspired musicians so much.

Key words
jazz, performance, musician, copyright, transmission

Origin
Jazz players first appeared in Korea around the late 1950s, performing mostly at clubs that catered to U.S. military troops stationed in the country after the Korean War (1950-1953).

They learned jazz music by themselves listening to the standard numbers contained in LP records available at U.S. military compounds. They were passionate to imitate the U.S. civil or military performers.

First Generation
The Janus Jazz Club band was the first to put on jazz performances for Korean audiences.

Female singer Park Sung-Yeon (박성연), who used to perform at U.S. military clubs, opened the Janus Jazz Club in 1978 with her own funds.

Korea has its own share of internationally unknown jazz masters - the first generation of local jazz musicians, who are presently septuagenarians.

In the 1990s
The remaining members of this first generation still put on live performances every Thursday at Moon Glow, a jazz club near Hongik University in western Seoul.

Their live shows are performed in sextets of saxaphone, trumpet, clarinet, piano, drum and contrabass, and are joined by guest performer Ryu Bok-Sung, a Latin music percussion and bongo expert. They usually perform cheerful swing and the bebop jazz styles that were popular in the 1930s and 40s.

In the 2000s
Turning to the Millenium, a trend deserved to be noted that many female jazz vocalists emerged on the Korean jazz scene.

Woongsan is one of the most outstanding performers. She has enjoyed a critical and pupular success that culminated with an appearance at the 3,000-seat classical music theater at the Seoul Arts Center, where she performed together with the arts center's orchestra.

Lee Jung-Sik has been one of the prominent and perhaps representative second-generation perfiormer of Korean jazz since the 1980s. Lee moved on to solo performances and eventually became the talk of the town thanks to his intense, hard bop style and a spirit of experiment that stood out in the local jazz community. Lee wasted no time in establishing himself as a top star on the Korean jazz scene in the early 1990s.

Thanks to his newfound popularity, he was able to released joint albums with world-class artists such as Ron Cater, Kenny Baron and Hino Terumasa.

Currently another jazz singer, Nah Yoon-Sun, is holding European jazz audiences spellbound in Paris, and other places.

Jazz Club and Jazz Festival in Korea
Everyday jazz festivities may be explored at the following places in downtown Seoul:
 * High Quality Interior Once in A Blue Moon at Cheongdam-dong, run by ex-Daewoo E&C man Im Jae-hong
 * Jazz and the City at Dream Hall of Olleh Square, Gwanghwamun
 * Jass Festival Jazzholic at Arte Hall on every Friday night
 * Jazz Club Evans in front of Hong Ik University
 * Jazz Club Moon Glow favored by the first generation on every Thursday night
 * Time-honored Jazz Club All that Jazz run by Park Sung-Yeon at Itaewon.

Korean jazz fans are proud of the world famous Jarasum (자라섬) Jazz Festival which is held in each summer or fall at Jara Islet (자라섬), Gapyeong (가평) inside the Han River (한강). The islet is also frequently visited by Korean auto campers, but submerged with high waters from time to time in summer rainy season. In 2012, the 9th International Jazz Festival was held at Jara Islet during the period October 12-14, 2012.

Relevant Statute
Suppose a jazz musician sings a famous jazz number, "Summertime" composed by George Gershwin.

Her performance and phonogram recorded on the stage are protected by the Copyright Act (저작권법/著作權法). Thus the jazz performers have acquired the right of interactive transmission under the said Act. The previous Act on Phonograms, Videos and Games (음반, 비디오물 및 게임물에 관한 법률, which was officially repealed by the Act for the Promotion of Cinemas and Videos in 2006) gave way to the Copyright Act in terms of the right of performances on October 16, 2004 by Act No. 7233, which came into force on January 16, 2005. Article 64 (Performances, Phonograms, and Broadcasts Protected) Performances, phonograms and broadcasts satisfying any condition of any of the following Subparagraphs shall be protected as neighboring rights under this Act:
 * 1. Performances (실연/實演):
 * a. Performances conducted by nationals of the Republic of Korea (including legal persons established pursuant to the laws and regulations of the Republic of Korea, and foreign legal persons maintaining their principal offices in the Republic of Korea; hereinafter the same shall apply.);
 * b. Performances protected under the international treaties to which the Republic of Korea has acceded or which it has ratified;
 * c. Performances fixed in phonograms as referred to in Subparagraph 2; and
 * d. Performances transmitted by broadcasts as referred to in Subparagraph 3 (except those included in sound or visual recordings before transmission).
 * 2. Phonograms (음반/音盤):
 * a. Phonograms manufactured by nationals of the Republic of Korea;
 * b. Phonograms in which sounds have been fixed for the first time in the Republic of Korea;
 * c. Phonograms in which sounds have been fixed for the first time in a foreign country party to the treaties to which the Republic of Korea has acceded or which it has ratified and thus protected under such treaties; and
 * d. Phonograms protected in accordance with the treaties which the Republic of Korea has joined in or acceded to and of which producers are the nationals of the contracting parties of those treaties (including any legal person established pursuant to the laws and regulations of the contracting party and any legal person the main office of which is located in the contracting party).
 * 3. Broadcasts (방송/放送):
 * a. Broadcasts made by broadcasting organizations which are the nationals of the Republic of Korea;
 * b. Broadcasts made from broadcasting facilities located in the Republic of Korea; and
 * c. Broadcasts made by broadcasting organizations which are nationals of a foreign country party to treaties to which the Republic of Korea has acceded or which it has ratified, from broadcasting facilities located in such foreign country party, and thus protected under such treaties.

Article 65 (Relationship with Copyright)The Articles in this Chapter shall not to be construed to have effects on copyright. Article 2 (Definitions)
 * 10. “Interactive transmission” (전송/傳送) shall mean, among public transmission, making works, etc. available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time of their choosing, and shall include the transmissions that occur thereby;
 * 11. “Digital sound transmission” (디지털음성송신) shall mean, among public transmission, the transmission of sounds in the digital method which is commenced upon request of members of the public intended for simultaneous reception by the public, and shall exclude interactive transmissions;

As of May 31, 2013, a total of 1,834,049 musical works have been registered with the Korea Music Copyright Association (사)한국음악저작권협회) under the copyright protection by genre as follows:

Source: Korea Music Copyright Assn, KOMCA Today, July & August 2013, p.23.