Dean M. Estabrook wrote:
If I choose to arrange a Renaissance piece that I dig out of the HAM (Harvard Anthology of Music), Can I be fairly certain that it is in public domain? If not, how does one find out that status?
The HAM is copyrighted, renewed in 1974 by Alice Humez and Willi Apel. What they're claiming copyright on however is open to debate since the works in the book were written long enough ago to be in the public domain. Is their copyright in the collection itself? Is it in the editions/modernizations of the different works in the collection?
You could always write and ask for permission. Or you could go ahead and arrange it, figuring that it won't raise enough ripples to be noticed by Humez and Apel. Or figuring that their copyright is in the collection as a whole (and the explanatory notes) and not in the individual works themselves, you can go ahead with your plan.
The only real way to find out the status of one of the works in such a collection is to consult a copyright attorney. Copyright holders often claim copyright in things they don't actually have copyright in. Only the legal system can give the correct answer, and often that's wrong, too. That's what appeals courts are for. ;-)
-- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
