Dear Stewart, Michael & all Stewart McCoy wrote:
>I think it would be very >difficult to prove that you were the first person to perform music >from a lute manuscript. Unfortunately, this doesn't matter. Let's consider a piece by Dowland as an example. The original copyright expired 70 years after his death, that is in 1696. One can distinguish the following cases: 1. The piece was published before or after 1696. There is no way to obtain an "Editio Princeps"-copyright. 2. The piece was never published but performed in public _before_ 1696 (which doesn't count). The person first to publish or perform in public the piece after 1696 owns the copyright for the next 25 years. After this period the piece returns to the public domain for ever. 3. The piece was never published but performed in public _after_ 1696. No way to obtain a "Editio Princeps"-copyright. At least that is how I understand the law. (To be precise: "published" means "spread in a sufficient number of copies", thus the music must be printed) Maybe one can avoid a "Editio-Princeps"-copyright with the argument, that one can never be sure wether a printed version existed, since probably the majority of printed lute music sources disappeared. I also don't know what situation applies when the composers is unknown. >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. In this case the royalties would theoretical go to the composers or their heirs since the 70 years after the composers death were not over. Michael Stitt wrote: >Surely this cannot be true. I would assume this one just remains in legal >limbo-land - untested and without precedent. It might be difficult to apply it to lute music because one can never be sure about wether an edition did exist. But it is already applied to younger music. The "Messe solennelle" by Berlioz, for example, that was discovered a few years ago is published as an "Editio Princeps". In this case we know enough about Berlioz to exclude any previous edition. Best wishes, Stefan Ecke
