>>>>> "David" == David Chan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
David> Werner Icking wrote:
>> David Chan wrote:
David> [...]
>> > I think the license should *explicitly* state that the music may be
>> > performed, recorded and distributed in audio format without royalty
>> > fees.
David> [...]
>> Imho these are two different sides of the coin: publication rights for
>> the sheet music and performance rights and other copyrights for the
>> music itsself.
David> Here is something which I think comes down to personal beliefs
David> :-) I don't want to criticise anyone else's opinion, but my own
David> belief is that music is not free (in the sense of "free
David> software") if you must pay royalties to perform it. Performing
David> is what musicians *do*. If all you have is the ability to
David> *obtain* the sheet music for nothing, and not the right
David> *perform* it, then you haven't really got any extra freedoms
David> than if you just bought the sheet music from a shop (except
David> it's cheaper and more convenient).
Acutally, you do gain things. I often want a piece of music to study,
or to play privately or to arrange for my music group or choir. If
we actually put on a performance, then I'd be working through the CCLA
group here to pay the appropriate royalties --- but there's a lot of
work that happens before that. There are dozens of pieces we practice
but never perform. If I buy a copyright music book, then there is no
permission to arrange, to create new parts (e.g., write out a clarinet
part in b-flat), copy (create 8 scores, because we prefer to play from
score than from parts) or anything. With music from Mutopia I can do
all that, and more.
David> However, I'm not suggesting that composers should be forced to
David> use our licensing. If they choose not to, they can sell their
David> music through normal channels, or make use of the service which
David> your server provides. At the moment, I don't know of any site,
David> apart from Mutopia, which is devoted to "free" (downloadable,
David> modifiable, performable, recordable) music, and I would hope
David> that we can continue to fill this gap.
http://www.cpdl.org/ --- the choral public domain library
Its licence does I think what you want.
Peter C
