Tom Jordan wrote:
What are publishers doing to address the creation of parts to match student band personnel?
Depends entirely on the publisher. But if you have a particular situation, you can always call or write for permission to do what you need to do, given that you do own legally-purchased music.
This has come as a personal alarm to me. Do the publishers actually grant any license to that junior high band with 12 tenor saxes and 1 trombone to duplicate or manufacture a transposed part for these always wacky combinations in student groups? These ensembles are supposed to have original parts for contests. State MEA's have those provisions in their regulations.
Again, get a letter of permission from the publisher. However, there is a provision in the U. S. Fair Use Guidelines that specifically says that it is all right to "simplify or edit" legally purchased music, and that is precisely what you would be doing. You might want to discuss this with your state's MENC officers. (I can't tell from your email address whether you are in the U.S., and the rules will be different in other countries.)
And at the same time, I am reading about band directors acknowledging the necessity of Finale for fixing their music! Copyright guidelines rears its ugly head once again. I want the copyrights protected. But should a publisher be granting a license, like software manufacturers do, so performance groups can legally prepare the necessary parts for performance?
The copyright owner--most often a publisher--may grant any request you make, or may not. But you have to ask. And the Fair Use Guidelines give you leeway, but may or may not be enough for the folks who run your contests. Best of luck!
John
-- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
