Please do not take it for granted that living composers will refuse to
contribute their work to Mutopia. Surely many will refuse, but some
of them may change their minds later as Mutopia becomes more
successful and the idea seems less shocking. Don't be defeatist!
Including recent music with the composer's permission is very
important, because it is a way of suggesting to other composers that
they ought to give permission.
So these three categories are incomplete:
1. Urtext music which is entirely out of copyright.
2. Music edited especially for Mutopia, the notes are out of copyright
but the edited remarks aren't.
3. Music arranged especially for Mutopia, although the tune is out of
copyright, the notes themselves aren't.
There will also be music that was arranged, or composed, recently but
not especially for Mutopia, and subsequently released through Mutopia.
I think that we should design a license (or more than one) for free
music. The two possibilities are copyleft and non-copyleft.
In order to do this properly, though, we need to work with a lawyer.
The Open Content License is not a good choice, because it does not
(at least when last I looked) permit selling copies.
