Hmmmm ... very interesting. Somehow, I knew it would be more complex
than I thought. Realistically (which, I realize, has nothing to do
with legal workings), just because they found a raft of literature in
some previously printed format, obviously, and compiled it in their
volume, shouldn't give them ownership over said literature for ever
and ever amen, it seems to me. I can certainly see their right to
claim copyright on the volume itself, but on a song that's been
around for 4 centuries, and has been transcribed hundreds of
times ... seems strange to me. Anyway, thanks for the response.
Dean
On Nov 14, 2006, at 3:21 PM, dhbailey wrote:
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
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Dean M. Estabrook
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Have you ever heard of an eleven or thirteen step program?
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