Mel B. Kaufman

Melville Bernd Kaufman (April 23, 1879 – February 21, 1932) was a prolific American ragtime piano composer.[1]

Among his best known works were "Me-Ow", "More Candy", "Taxi", "Step With Pep" and "Pick A Chicken", the latter of which was advertised as a favorite dance number for Vernon Castle.[2] His numbers were featured by bandleaders such as Vincent Lopez, Earl Fuller, and Joseph C. Smith. Several of his compositions were recorded and turned into piano rolls, and many tunes were used in soundtracks and cartoons into the 1950s.

Kaufman was born in Newark, New Jersey. Beginning in 1919, Kaufman entered into several publishing & recording contracts with the Sam Fox Publishing Company. After his death, his widow May Z. Kaufman became executor of his estate, and in 1934 sued Sam Fox Publishing Company for unpaid royalties due to synchronization rights (an industry term which didn't exist when the contracts were first written in 1919). Sam Fox Publishing Company sought to rewrite their contract with Kaufman's estate (and presambly other artists) to clarify the differences (in meaning and in accounting) between mechanical reproducing rights and synchronization rights. This resulted in a further settlement arbitrated by ASCAP's John G. Paine, which Sam Fox appealed to the New York Supreme Court.[3]

Earlier, in 1926, Kaufman had endorsed efforts to amend United States copyright law to better protect rights-holders' interests in light of the new radio broadcast medium.[4]

Kaufman died in New York City.

  1. ^ Rehrig, William H. (1991). "Kaufman, Mel B. (1879–1932)". In Paul E. Bierley (ed.). The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music (2 vols). Integrity Press. ISBN 978-0918048080. OCLC 477210625.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Mel B. (1915). Bing! Bing! Fox Trot. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Appeals, New York (State) Court of (1944). New York Court of Appeals. Records and Briefs.
  4. ^ patents, United States Congress Joint committee on (1926). To Amend the Copyright Act: Joint Hearings Before the Committee on Patents, Congress of the United States, Sixty-ninth Congress, First Session on S. 2328 and H.R. 10353. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 228.