On 08/21/2015 01:49 PM, Christian Gauger-Cosgrove wrote:
You want fun with music copyrights? Please go look at the IMSLP project. Here's their page on how copyrights work with regards to the sheet music/scores they are archiving: <http://imslp.org/wiki/Public_domain>
I'm very, very familiar with IMSLP as well as various other collections. I confess to have used a Canadian proxy server to get at some of the (non-PD, PD-Canada) scores for inspection.
Dover, at one time, had quite a collection of Shostakovitch published--and then subsequently withdrew all of it when the copyrights were restored. The shame of it all is that this business extended to works for study that had been PD for several decades. My own collection, for example, includes scores for Shosti Symphonies 1-15. Can't arrange the stuff; can't republish it or duplicate it and probably not perform it without a "by your leave" from the estate (is Dmitry's widow still alive?).
Sometimes, this business can get in the way, but you're stuck. For example, you'd think that the hymns of the US Armed Services would be all in the public domain. Not so! "Semper Paratus" for the USCG is used by them only by permission. The estate holding the rights firmly refuses to grant permission for arrangement.
You want to see copyright and hungry lawyers? Cast a glance toward the music biz.
--Chuck
