IMSLP Forums

Why is George Gershwin not in the USA's public domain?

Anything published before 1923 is PD in the US. I assume whichever works are labeled non-PD were published after then.

Ras1 is correct. The bulk of Gershwin's works were published after 1922 and are therefore protected in the USA until 95 years after publication. The first items (those titles published in 1923) will enter the US public domain on Jan. 1, 2019 - assuming Disney and other parties haven't bribed (excuse me - contributed to the election campaigns of) Congress to extend the term another 20 years before then.

thanks. that really stinks.

let's hope congress won't be easily swayed by Disney's eventual bribes

Be careful - libretto or lyrics are mostly from brother Ira, and other works like Rhapsody in Blue frequently have orchestrators or arrangers having author's rights.

Peter wrote:Be careful - libretto or lyrics are mostly from brother Ira, and other works like Rhapsody in Blue frequently have orchestrators or arrangers having author's rights.

Yes, didn't Ferde Grofe do the "symphonic" orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue (the original was for big jazz band, if I recall correctly), as well as the orchestration for Blue Monday?

Peter is absolutely right. Between lyrics penned by brother Ira (who lived into the 1980s), and orchestrations or arrangements done by Grofe (d.1972) and Frank Campbell-Watson (d.1980), there's not that much pure Gershwin out there which is free even in Canada.

The 1942 Grofe orchestration of the Rhapsody in Blue full score was once published by Warner Brothers. I wonder if this is the same (reprint) as the Eulenburg edition?

Carolus wrote:Peter is absolutely right. Between lyrics penned by brother Ira (who lived into the 1980s), and orchestrations or arrangements done by Grofe (d.1972) and Frank Campbell-Watson (d.1980), there's not that much pure Gershwin out there which is free even in Canada.

Grofe did most of the orchestrations that are heard today (the original for Paul Whiteman in 1924, one for theater orchestra, one for full orchestra, and another for symphonic band--interestingly arranged to be played with or without piano).

It's also worth noting here that WB and the Gershwin estate were right behind Disney in pushing forward the Sonny Bono CTEA, specifically because Rhapsody in Blue was soon to be PD. United Airlines might even be making a profit now if they weren't paying millions to the Gershwin estate.

Vivaldi:

The 1942 Grofe orchestration of the Rhapsody in Blue full score was once published by Warner Brothers. I wonder if this is the same (reprint) as the Eulenburg edition?

You have to watch those copyright notices on some Eulenburg editions. While it's true that the vast majority are free, there are a number of cases where Eulenburg has issued a study score under license from the copyright holder. Grofe's orchestrations are protected worldwide, so any Eulenburg score of them would fall into this category - a licensed reprint. There are a number of scores where the identical engraving has appeared under the imprints of Eulenburg, Boosey and Hawkes, and Peters. In most of these cases the original issue was by Eulenburg (in Leipzig, before 1938), or even Donajowski or Payne (who were absorbed by Eulenburg in the 1890s).