FAQ Question

[vivaldi85]

# If only a few works are causing trouble, why can't we have the rest, such as Bach?

* While Bach is public domain, strictly speaking, a scan of the Bach Gesellschaft Ausgabe with a company logo on it may not be permissible. Why? Because the logo can be a trademark - even though the scanned music itself is public domain (at least in Canada and the US). It's never as simple as it seems.

Does that mean if one simply scans that same document, from say Bach, but without the logo it would be considered public domain? In other words, would simply covering up the trademarks in the scanned version make it public domain?

# Why is it taking so long to come back up?

* IMSLP staff are currently in the process of re-checking thousands of scanned scores uploaded onto IMSLP.

Are logos the thing being checked for during this process? What are you looking for when re-checking the scanned scores?

[Yagan Kiely]

Yes getting rid of the logo makes it fine (assuming it is PD)

Logos, Death of composers, librettists, date of publication, date edited, everything related to copyright.

[Yagan Kiely]

I have updated the FAQ to be more exact.

[sixhobbits]

Is there a reason that we can't have the scores that have already been 'checked'?

Also, can we please have a link on the new IMSLP wiki that directs to this forum?

[Yagan Kiely]

There is a link. It is up the top and says "IMSLP Forums". Next to "Blog (projected)"

Is there a reason that we can't have the scores that have already been 'checked'?

Releasing them would mean releasing the the wiki which has unchecked files. Transferring all those files would take so much more effort than doing it this way. Just be patient.

[Peter]

Does that mean if one simply scans that same document, from say Bach, but without the logo it would be considered public domain? In other words, would simply covering up the trademarks in the scanned version make it public domain?
...
What are you looking for when re-checking the scanned scores?

Logos are not the main concern - the appear only seldom on the music print. The music that is presented to you when you buy a publication, is never the same as the manuscript of the composer or the first edition. People called editors make interpretations of the originals, and make editorial additions, which can contain dynamics, fingerings, slurring, et cetera. In some cases they make complete transcriptions. It is on these additions that copyright is claimed.
This way, a score by Bach fingered by a living editor is copyrighted for the life +50 or 70 years after the death of the editor.

So what we're looking for is: publication date, editor, and extent of editorial additions.