Dear Stefan, Thank you for all this information. I think it would be very difficult to prove that you were the first person to perform music from a lute manuscript. The chances are that the original owner of the manuscript played music from it to a few friends, and so (according to your interpretation of German law) he would own the copyright for the next 25 years, after which it would be in the public domain. That would mean, for example, that Richard Mynshall could claim a royalty from us, if we were to perform music from his manuscript before 1622. After that it's all up for grabs.
Best wishes, Stewart. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stefan Ecke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 8:55 PM Subject: Copyright and library restrictions in Germany > An "Editio Princeps" is the first edition of a piece of music that was > never published before. Thus this part of the copyright law only > applies to lute manuscripts and not to historical prints of lute music. > The person who first publishes or performs (!!) a so far unpublished > piece of music, owns the rights overs the music for the next 25 years! > Thus the lutenist who is first to publish or perform in public a previously > unpublished piece of music, can ask for royalties form all other > lutenists that play the piece. > Personally, I think this regulation is unbelievable. >
