| This brings to the forefront a very murky problem. I have
| a (not so) large collection of tunes in ABC format (<=100 :-).
| While most are in the public domain, some are not.
| For example, I have a version of Ashokan's Farewell written by
| Jay Unger in 1983.
|
| Now (not so hypothetically), in the interest in promulgating
| (my particular brand of) music, I typeset my tunes and take them
| to the local music store and sell them with the proviso that all
| profits go to help offset the cost of musical instrument rentals
| to under-privilaged children (I encourage you all to do the
| same).
| The question is, have I violated J. Unger's copyright (and
| Rounder's)
| or not?
Yes you have. No murkiness here at all. A few copies for
personal use aren't going to raise many eyebrows. But
selling printed copies like this is totally illegal just
about anywhere in the world. It doesn't matter in the least
that you are doing something that you consider worthwhile
with the money. (And note that, by posting your message,
you have publicly admitted that you know who composed this
tune, so you'll have no defense. ;-)
In this case, I happen to know that Jay's a nice guy, and
if you ask, he'll almost certainly give you permission. So
ask him. You might not be surprised to hear that his email
address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] He's one of the organizers of
the Ashokan dance camp. He and Molly also have a web site,
at www.jayandmolly.com.
(Hereabouts in New England there have been suggestions that
we declare a 5-year moratorium on Ashokan Farewell. ;-)
| In a similar vain, a lot of the tunes I originally learned from
| "the book-o-fiddle-tunes": if the author does not receive credit,
| have I broken the law? (or more exactly, an unwritten law?)
You have certainly violated lots of written laws. Dunno
about the unwritten ones, though. If you can show evidence
that you did a reasonable search and couldn't learn
anything about a tune, the courts have a history of being
lenient when the actual owner sues. Publishers tend to be
rather picky about doing a fairly thorough search for
copyright owners. If you look in a lot of obvious places
and can't find anything, it's common to have a disclaimer
to the effect that the composer is unknown, and later
editions often have an updated attribution (if the composer
is found and permission given) or the tune is deleted with
an explanation.
This is the main reason that music books often come out
several years after their planned publication date.
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