There is zero reason for DT to do this. The band’s schedule is already insane, and they only have a finite amount of time, money and resources. As musicians there are probably about 100 other projects they would rather do then re record an album with limited fan appeal and songs they wrote when they were practically children haha.
While it wouldn't make any sense to do this as a standalone release, I could imagine it being a remote possibility for a box set or even as a bonus disc for a new album. If they're already in the studio recording a new album, it wouldn't take much effort, time or money for them to bang out those 8 tracks in addition to whatever album they may be working on. But while it is a remote possibility, it's one I doubt will ever happen, even if MP was to return to the band at some point.
What's the situation in terms of the rights holders with that album? Because don't I recall Mike Portnoy saying something about the reason why they just decided to "re-record" the album in a live setting with Reuinte, because it would have cost them too much money to purchase the rights for the album from the original label? Or something to that effect?
"Rights" covers at least three different issues. The sound recording copyright (under 17 U.S.C. section 102(a)(7), if you're interested) in the album was originally owned by Mechanic Records, which was a subsidiary of MCA Records, which is now Universal Music Group. Assuming the original masters still exist, they're presumably in a UMG vault somewhere. In order to remix or remaster WDADU, the band would need to gain possession of the original masters and a license from the sound recording copyright owner. However, neither of those things would be needed to re-
record the album. I don't have my copy of WDADU handy, but re-recording the album would require permission from the owner(s) of the musical composition copyrights (under 17 U.S.C. section 102(a)(2)). For most, if not all, DT songs, the musical composition copyrights were assigned by the individual songwriters to a DT-owned and controlled publishing company called Ytse Jams, Inc. In other words, in order to re-record the album, the band only need give itself permission.**
** - This assumes (probably safely so) that the
current members of DT have a controlling interest in Ytse James, Inc. such that it would not be necessary to obtain consent from MP, KM and/or CD.
At this point, I imagine that the cost of purchasing the master tapes and the rights thereto would not be much of an issue, but I suspect that the interest simply isn't there.
The interesting thing is (and this is something I just learned about a couple weeks ago), is that there is a copyright law that allows bands to regain control of their recordings after 35 years:
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/arts/music/springsteen-and-others-soon-eligible-to-recover-song-rights.html
So in 3 year's time, the guys could start the legal process of regaining their full rights to WDaDU. If they were to do so, it could finally allow for them to go back and remix the original recordings and give WDaDU the proper production that it deserves. Not sure if it will ever happen, but hopefully it will.
I think it's amusing how the article refers to the termination right as "a little-noted provision in United States copyright law." Among folks in the music industry and lawyers who practice copyright law, it's quite well known. However, I'm not sure it's going to benefit DT too much as it concerns WDADU. For starters, I'm not sure your statement that the band gave up rights to the original recordings
as part of the agreement to get out of the contract with Mechanic/MCA is correct. I suspect they never had those rights to begin with.
As a general rule -- although less so now than in the 1980s and 1990s -- the recording artist doesn't own rights in the master recordings or the sound recording copyrights. Except for a few high profile artists, the recording company owned the sound recording copyrights and the master recordings as works for hire, and the termination right under 17 U.S.C. section 203 expressly does not apply to works for hire. I'd have to do some research to see whether and to what extent the work for hire status of sound recording copyrights has been challenged in the courts (the article you linked is from 2011, and works first became eligible for termination in 2013, so I have to assume there's been some litigation about this).
Additionally, section 203 of the Copyright Act provides that, in the case of a joint work, the termination right has to be exercised by a majority of the joint authors. That means a majority of: JP, JM, MP, CD, KM
and Terry Date and possibly also Joe Alexander (the producer and sometimes also the engineer are typically regarded as joint authors of a sound recording copyright). Maybe it wouldn't be difficult to get a majority on board with something like this; I don't know; but they still might get a fight over the work for hire issue.
Finally, terminating the copyright would not have any impact on ownership of the physical tapes on which WDADU was recorded. Terminating the copyright would have the effect of terminating the record company's ability to exploit the album, but I believe (and certainly could be wrong) that WDADU has been out of print for a long time. So, even if DT could acquire rights by terminating the copyright transfer, a remastering or remixing would still require that the band buy the original masters (if they still exist).