> Poor countries and access to resources: It is a difficult matter indeed. > What to do about it? I'm in the other end of the spectrum, the one > "benefited" from the free online resources or the donations. And the one > doing most illegal actions. > > I'll tell you what happens down here (Argentina): we freely exchange > sheet music in any form, especially by photocopies, but also--and by > those of us who are lucky enough to have a computer--by pdf files, by > sharing links to web sites we found with sheet music, etc. That's the > only way we're able to access material to produce guitarists, lutenists, > and musicians in general. Some of us fortunate to have money to make > copies or connect to the Internet: many students don't, and we have to > "donate" photocopies for them, they're that poor. Fortunately, they > don't have to pay for lessons, the Conservatory is free and paid by the > government. But sometimes, at the beginning of the year, you can find > students (9 or 10 year old) who go to the small kitchen in the > Conservatory, hoping to get some food, food they don't get at home. Yes, > it's that bad. > > BUT, some of us would be able to afford to buy a few items a year. We > don't do it, because we're caught in this photocopying frenzy. And > that's why you won't see any new editions coming from Argentina: we made > publishers die, publishers like Ricordi Americana, who once had a > incredible catalog of works. Composers in Argentina know this situation > well, and give away copies of their works to anyone who shows interest > in them without thinking it twice. And publish their works in foreign > countries. Somehow I don't believe that the musicians are to blame for this. It seemed that A LOT of music down there was being put out by Warner Brothers "South American division. So I'm sure they contributed to the demise of local houses.
> About donations: I'm thankful to persons who are willing to donate > items. But I don't think we would be receiving the amounts we need. And > I'm sure anything you donate would be copied a thousand times, so keep > it in mind, it would surely end up as more illegal copies in the world, > not less. Of course, I'm speaking about musicians in general and > guitarists in particular. There are no lutenists around here. There should be half a dozen around metropolitan Buenos Aires, right? And at least one in M ______________ Roman M. Turovsky http://turovsky.org http://polyhymnion.org ar del Plata. RT
