Use of IMSLP scores in competitions

[pocoallegro]

Hello,

I am a vocal coach and I regularly participate in the NATS vocal competition in the USA. In this competition, the rules state that without exception the contestants must provide their accompanists with "original copies" of music to play from, i.e. published books. They recently began allowing scores marked with the CD Sheet Music logo since that was purchased by the teacher and is therefore as legitimate as a bound score.

It would obviously be wonderful to provide singers with some of the wonderful public domain vocal music available on this site for the competition, but it will be difficult for the judges to tell between a legally downloaded copy (public domain) and a xerox copy.

I bring this up mostly as a talking point. I'm not sure this has created a problem for anyone else, but it is certainly something to figure out (some kind of IMSLP watermark similar to CD Sheet Music).

[daphnis]

This is a good subject.

It would obviously be wonderful to provide singers with some of the wonderful public domain vocal music available on this site for the competition, but it will be difficult for the judges to tell between a legally downloaded copy (public domain) and a xerox copy

What's the difference? Public domain is public domain. Just because one pays $80 for it doesn't mean one must. For use of these scores in competition, the competitor should probably include a letter stating the status of the work in question, and if it would help and the judges would accept, I'm sure we could notarize such a note in these situations.

[horndude77]

Is this the same competition? http://www.nats.org/index.php?option=co ... &Itemid=72. I don't see a rule like that. I can see it being an unwritten rule that somehow people think exists. Or perhaps that is a rule for the local competition.

In any case rules like these start from a presumption that it is illegal to copy any sheet music. This is incorrect and sends the wrong message to the participants.

(As a side note it looks like the nats.org site has been defaced).

[Carolus]

This is a good example of an area in which publishers have indulged in a great deal of bluster, intimidation and outright misinformation. Most state contests absolutely forbid photocopied scores and parts, irrespective of the public domain status of a given item. I find it interesting that CDSM - which makes no attempt of any kind about what particular publicaitons have been scanned, or who they were originally issued by - is now allowed according to at least some contest rules.

Fortunately, this is a part of IMSLP's core mission: to educate the public about the true copyright status and the original actual issue of particular works. I think the copyright review team and the many knowledgeable contributors here have made IMSLP into a far more reliable source of information about the various editions, arrangements, etc. than CDSM and numerous other commercial enterprises. It will just take some time for the contest folks to catch up, I suppose.

[steltz]

And, hopefully, the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Trinity-Guildhall, etc.

[Operalala]

Does this also reflect concerns about legibility of the copies and/or the works being in the original keys?
Since I'm doing some of these uploads, I'd be happy to also create and upload "officially IMSLP watermarked" versions of the CD scores, if this is ok with the community. (And is there an IMSLP logo, other than the image with the score in the background?)
Operalala