Music copy rights

[backlash]

What are the music copy rights on a peice of music? The reason I want to know is becuase as a practice of cord studies I want to take a piano piece called "Largo for 'New World' Symphony" and make it into a band arraingment/warm up. I want my school band to be able to play it along with my community band I am involved with. What kind of proccess do I need to go through/ who do I talk to, to see about getting the right to arrange it for full band. I wont change the original melody any just add some background to it and put in chords. What are your thoughts on it, and do you think that anyone would mind me doing this if I am not gaining any profit for it or putting my name on the piece in any form just arrangeing it for a full band?

[Dave Dolson]

Backlash: Let me be the first to ask you to spell correctly - it makes it so much easier to read a post. Your post goes beyond simple typos.

I suggest you check the song-title through ASCAP and BMI. You may find that one of them holds the license for the song you want to arrange. If you locate the licensee or the copyright holder, then you can make the proper requests and be assured of not running afoul of the law.

OR, you could just go ahead and do it and see what happens. DAVE

[gary]

My experience is that generally if you are not a publisher the copyright holders won't give you the time of day. The other way is to sell your arrangement to a publisher and they will take care of the copyright.

It has also been my experience that, as long as you don't distribute, publish or sell your arrangements chances are it will go unnoticed by the copyright holder (hint, hint). However, you may have to pay royalty performance rights to a representative agency (GEMA, ASCAP etc).

[bobsax]

I think songs go public domain after 75 years . This piece should fall into that category

[odsum25]

Dvorak 9 is definitely in public domain.

[backlash]

I am sorry for the typos, I was in a hurry and have never been the greatest at spelling. I typed it quite quickly and wanted to make sure I got all in and understandable.

So you think that this peice might fall into publc domain, meaning that it is open to the public and won't need any kind of fees to be paid or people to contact about arrangeing the piece?

[Carl H.]

Dvorak is, however that arrangement may not be. Shouldn't be an issue in a school situation as the blanket license will cover it.

[backlash]

That is good to know, I just wanted to make sure before I go ahead and have arrange it and have us play it. I don't want profit from it or have my name on it at all. So hopefully all will be good.

[Dave Dolson]

Backlash: MUCH better - thank you.

Anything in the public domain is open for copying, performing or distributing. Thanks also for recognizing the ownership of intellectual property. It is an area of concern that seems to be ignored these days. DAVE

[backlash]

Your welcome, I am just a junior right now, and starting to learn music theory for college. I had not worked on cord studies before so when I go to write this piece it will be a learning proccess as well.

As I understand it the piece I want to use falls under a "blanket license" and will be covered becuase I am just useing it at school?

What about if I take it to my comminity band and see if they would play it. Do I have to look for the rights to do that as well, becuase I was unable to find out if the song itself was in public domain.

[odsum25]

I should add one thing about public domain. Technically you would have to be working from a score in the public domain, although unless you used a rather distinctive edition for your arrangement and used it pretty exactly, it would be fairly difficult to tell. Dvorak 9 does fall into public domain, but look around for an old score, no longer under protection. That said, if you aren't using it for any type of profit and especially in a low key school setting, there shouldn't be any problems anyway.

Edit: Check out this link, it shows quite a few works that are in the public domain, although certainly not comprehensive. As you'll see, the Dvorak "New World" Symphony is on the list. http://www.pdinfo.com/list/n.htm

And to quote the homepage: "Music and lyrics written by an American author and published in 1922 or earlier are in the Public Domain in the United States. No one can claim ownership of a song in the public domain, therefore public domain songs may be used by everyone. PD songs may be used for profit-making without paying any royalties. If you create a new version or derivative of a public domain song, you can copyright your version and no one can use it without your permission. However, the song remains in the public domain, and anyone else can also make and copyright their own version of the same PD song.

Songs change over time. Even though a public domain version exists, some versions may still be under copyright protection. The only way to confidently identify a PD version is to find a copy of the song with a copyright date old enough for public domain status. You can then use that PD version or work from it to create your own derivative work. If you work from a version still under copyright protection, the copyright owner can likely make a valid claim for royalties."

Pretty straightforward, but again, even if it weren't in the public domain, since you aren't doing it for profit, you would be within the law. This does say American author, but I believe that since it was originally published in America it wouldn't matter anyway. Most countries have similar public domain laws, perhaps varying slightly in the year. And also, although I'm not completely positive on the exact number of years, but I think musical compositions pass into public domain 75 years after the author's death in the US.

[backlash]

That is good to know. Thank you all for you information. I had figured that since I would be useing the song in a low key setting for school and not makeing profit on it, then it wouldn't cuase much contraversy. Even in the community band I am in, we are all non-profit and nobody pays any entrance fees to our concerts. I had started on the peice last night and it is going pretty well.

[Dave Dolson]

Backlash: Odsum25's post made sense to me. I don't know what a "blanket license" is, but if your tune is in the public domain, no need to worry about taking it and creating your own arrangement.

My so-called expertise is based on my 12 years investigating copyright infringements for the Motion Picture Association of America. I am not a lawyer - and detailed questions about intellectual property are best directed to real experts in the field. I know, being a high school student is a long way from hiring a lawyer, but that is the best way to do it. SOTW advice is only for your (our?) own amazement.

I recall that there is an educational exemption in copyright law, but it is very narrow. For instance, a teacher may show a copyrighted movie to use in a lesson plan at school but not as rainy-day entertainment or showing at a school's assembly. The exemption is only for pure education and not entertainment. DAVE