Your statement about such songs having "been transcribed hundreds of
times" may not quite be accurate the way you wish it to be -- those
works may have only been transcribed hundreds of times AFTER the
publication of HAM. And they may have been done with written permission
from the copyright owners or they may have not been done with such
permission, neither of which conditions helps you.
If those works really have been transcribed hundreds of times, before
and after the publication of HAM, then you can most likely go ahead with
your arrangement.
Now if you can find an edition which predates the HAM edition, or if you
can find cite editions which cite different original sources, you can
come to an understanding of just what is copyrighted in each edition and
then filter that stuff out and create your own edition.
And the final thing to consider is the scope of the arrangement you wish
to do -- are you planning on having it published? If not, then creating
your arrangement may well stay completely off the copyright radar and
never be an issue. If you are planning on having it published, the
publisher you submit it to may have better knowledge of the legality of
the arrangement.
I don't know about your comment about the compilers of HAM having
"found a raft of literature in some previously printed format" -- if
they found the music in manuscripts in a library, Davison and Appel may
well be looked on under the copyright law as being the first to publish
the music and thus be entitled to full copyright as if they had composed
the music themselves.
And finally, the copyright law as it was in effect in 1946 when the book
was originally published was quite different from the law as it stands
today, and these issues may not be valid concerns at all. I am
intrigued by the fact that the book carries a copyright notice which
says it was copyright 1946 and copyright 1949 by the fellows of Harvard
University. I wonder what the two copyrights cover.
David H. Bailey
Dean M. Estabrook wrote:
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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