Granted, with the proviso that only those who can afford to prosecute the violator have actual protection. However, this is exactly not the case I was describing. BB cannot claim ownership of the intellectual property of Odhecaton: the composers, editors and typesetters of the original are long dead. (And, I might add, unlikely to rise from death to prosecute SCA arrangers!) In their original facsimile, BB only endeavored to reproduce what was there, which while it requires craft, does not require the kind of creative qualities Copyright was intended to protect. None-the-less, they have a copyright, so the question remains. Is a xerox of a facsimile which removes all but the image which the facsimile is attempting to reproduce a violation of the copyright on the facsimile?
There seems a parallel to, say, a medly that contains a public domain song. Let us make it even more parallel: a public domain song from a source which is held privately by the arranger. If another arranger takes the melody and arranges it, have they violated the copyright of the first arranger? Yes, he privately owns the manuscript from which the melody came, and could make money, one presumes, from sale of it, or by selling access to it. But the melody is, ultimately, in the public domain, and his exposure of it in an arrangement does not make it his. Or does it, under the law? Ray On Nov 23, 2007 5:23 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wed, Nov 21, 2007, Ray Brohinsky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > > > > And...assuming that there is great value in what you are copyrighting. > > mmm, not necessarily. Sometimes the author wants a say in how his > material is used. Consider an edition of 16c dance music harmonized and > slightly ornamented in the style of the time; a significant augmentation > which is very much in demand for play for live dancing at reinactment > events (eg, SCA). The composer might feel very good about the music being > played in that context, even xerox'd widely, not a cent in royalties being > required. > > But, perhaps less happy to see it recorded for sale, or played in public > concerts; the settings being plausible, but not authentic; a scholars > reservation sorta thing. > > Copyright gives him the ability to limit performance to those venues he is > comfortable with, its not always about filthy lucre. > > -- > Dana Emery > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
