On Jul 25, 2006, at 6:29 AM, Johannes Gebauer wrote:
On 20.07.2006 Andrew Stiller wrote:
Under US copyright law, the only thing Saur can copyright about such
a collection of PD material is the collection itself--that is, the
selection and ordering of the contents. If you don't copy that (that
is to say, the whole damn collection, or a *really* substantial
portion of it) you are totally in the clear--and in the right too.
Not that I am any expert on this, but I think that there are
exceptions for this kinds of prints, especially if no other edition,
facsimile or engraved, exists. This may very well count as the very
first publication (even if individual pieces have been in print in the
past or present), and it could be, that the library gave the
publication rights to Saur. In that case you may very well be
violating their copyright by photocopying from the facsimile.
Under US law, mere ownership of an MS conveys no intellectual property
rights in it, and first publications of PD material are copyrightable
only insofar as something new (not including typography and layout) is
added to what may be found in the MS. The copyright in such an edition
belongs to the creator of that edition absolutely, and does not require
the approval of the library holding the MS. I have published numerous
such editions, and believe me, I know what I'm talking about.
It is considered polite to ask libraries before publicly reproducing PD
material from their collections, and to give them due credit in writing
for the usage--but there is no legal obligation whatsoever to do so.
Andrew Stiller
Kallisti Music Press
http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
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