IMSLP Forums

So I have a viola concerto that was published in 1954 by the state music publishing company in USSR. Is the piece still copyrighted? I read through the copyright rules, but am still a little confused. thank you

The answer to your question is highly dependent upon who the composer is and when he or she died. Since IMSLP is directly influenced by Canadian and US copyright, my answers pertains only to those countries. If you're talking about an original viola concerto by a composer like Kabalevsky who died less than 50 years ago, the work is absolutely protected and cannot be posted here. If the composer died between 1953 and 1958, your chances improve a little but not much. If the composer died between 1946 and 1952, the chances improve somewhat more. If the composer's death was before 1946, the odds are very high that the work is free in both Canada and the USA.

Canada's law is simple: life plus 50 years, with a very high standard of originality required for a derivative work (adaptation), which means most editions of older works like Tchaikovsky, etc. are free. The USA's law is naturally much more complicated. All works first published before 1923 are free. Works first published 1923-1988 are subject to the copyright notice requirements, and those issued before 1964 also to the renewal requirement. Muzgiz affixed copyright notices on very few items - only after 1973 and renewed nothing. The GATT treaty amendments (effective 1996) allowed for "restoration" of Muzgiz works provided they were still protected in the country of origin (only composers who died after 1945 were) and the NIE was filed in the two-year window. This was done almost entirely for 20th century Soviet composers like Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Kabalevsky, and Khachaturian. It did not apply to editions, and possibly not even to arrangements, as those were apparently not protected under the Russian law in force when the treaty went into effect.

well the composer died around 1970, but I don't think anyone has ever heard of him. I did a google search, and there is only one short summary of his life. Do you think you could go into a little more detail about the Muzgiz restoration deal? I really think its a great piece, and it took me about half a year to find the sheet music, so I really want to share it. Thank you once again, I really appreciate your help.

Unfortunately, since the composer died only in 1970, the work is under copyright worldwide. The only possible exception to this would be in the USA, and only if the following conditions are present:

1. The work was first published in 1954 by Muzgiz without any copyright notice. (This is probably the case).
2. The work was not registered and renewed in 1982 by the composer's heirs or a western publisher. (Again, probably the case)
3. The work is not on the rather extensive list of NIE's (Notices of Intent to Enforce) published by the Copyright Office.
(Hard to say what the case is here. G. Schirmer, who purchased the assets of VAAP and Muzika for their whole catalog of 20th century Soviet composers in the great fire-sale / looting of the 1990s, filed NIEs for thousands of titles, including many of obscure composers. They could well have missed a lot of them, too.)

If all three of the above conditions are present, there is a good possibility that the work is free in the USA (only). There is no way we could allow it to be posted at IMSLP, however, as it is definitely protected in Canada (where IMSLP is hosted). You could try and find the composer's heirs and ask their permission to post it here. If they granted such permission, it would be OK to upload it. Often, families of such composers are very happy to see the works posted at a place like IMSLP, since it really helps the work to become better known.

Thank you once again for the help. I searched the copyright records extensively, and it does not seem that schirmer filed a NIE, so i think its public domain in the U.S

That's interesting to know. Perhaps you can interest Masters or Dover in reprinting it - or even reprint it yourself (assuming you're in the USA). We can't post at IMSLP until 2021, unless we open up a USA server before then (which we hopefully will).