On 9 Jan 2009 at 21:43, Johannes Gebauer wrote: > On 09.01.2009 Daniel Wolf wrote: > > In the case of public domain works by well-known composers, if the works > > are of any artistic merit, it is very hard to argue for any delay or > > restriction in publication of source materials, and an argument against > > more open access to the raw data should be equally difficult. I could well > > imagine that if the scanned Ukrainian library were place online, the > > musicological community would be immediately enriched by the liveliness and > > thoroughness of the public discussion, and the musical community in general > > need not suffer any arbitrary delay in access to works belonging to a > > common heritage. Such a delay only adds insult to the injury that has > > kept such works hidden. > > Do not forget that this collection has the potential to make a lot of > money with publishing and performing rights. This is not about scholarly > research, it is about money. We may not like it, but money does rule the > world.
There's at least a theoretical basis for this, and it's the same as for all copyright: If there are exlusive rights, that should justify someone investing time to try to publish it, since they will be able to benefit monetarily from doing so. But I think that right should be limited in duration, and severely so, in fact. If somebody doesn't publish something within 20 years after its discovery, seems to me they've forfeited any right to their exclusive license and the documents should go into the public domain where all scholars would have the right to work with it. > Actually, if I suddently discovered an unknown Bach oratorio in my > closet, I would not want anybody else to even look at it until I made a > lot of money with it. Unfortunately Bach didn't hide anything in my > closet, I had a look. Huh. I personally have no desire to make money off of the musical heritage of Western Europe. It would be nice to be compensated in some way for the cost of preparing an edition, but I really don't see how I have any right to money (other than for my own labor) just because I discovered someone else's work. -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
