IMSLP Forums

Hello,

I have a question about the copyright of a score in some situations:

- If I have a printed copyrighted score of a Brahms piece and I write that again in Sibelius (or Finale, or whatever), changing some minor things (articulations, bar numbers, layout...) and export it to a new PDF file. What is the copyright of that new score?

- What if I do the same thing with the score of a composer who's still alive and released that score a year ago?

To give some background, I'm studying music and sometimes I write in Sibelius the scores I'm analyzing, reducing, orchestrating,... and they're not in the IMSLP. Can I contribute those scores (the originals, in case of orchestrations or reductions) to the library?

Thanks in advance and congratulations for the great work
Víctor.

Generally, if the Brahms work is in the form it was originally written in (as opposed to an arrangement, like a new orchestration of a piano piece), your new typeset should be fine. The copyright of the new score (in countries where such a new score qualifies for the limited protection given to typesets and urtext editions) is your own. For a composer who is still alive, you would have to have his written permission to post your typeset here under one of the Creative Commons licenses.

Carolus wrote:Generally, if the Brahms work is in the form it was originally written in (as opposed to an arrangement, like a new orchestration of a piano piece), your new typeset should be fine. The copyright of the new score (in countries where such a new score qualifies for the limited protection given to typesets and urtext editions) is your own.

Actually, I suppose that if the source of your Sibelius/Finale edition is a score protected as an Urtext edition or another substantially new derivative of the original Brahms work (you are saying that you used a still protected edition!), you are not allowed to copy/upload that score, as it is still protected.

Carolus wrote: For a composer who is still alive, you would have to have his written permission to post your typeset here under one of the Creative Commons licenses.

Or put differently: Typesetting and uploading a score from a compose who is still alive, is a violation of his copyright (unless you obtained permission from him). It's the musical content that is protected, not so much the typeset of the content.

For the Brahms piece, you will get clearer advice if you can say what the piece is and what edition/arrangement you've typeset. You've already stated that it is still copyrighted. If it is for the original instrumentation, i.e. not arranged for something else, it was presumably edited by someone who qualifies for copyright. If this is the case, you might want to compare that edition to an urtext so you can be very sure what the editor added. In some cases, it's relatively simple to remove the editor's additions, making what's left the public domain part.

The only thing under copyright on a Brahms piece - apart from something published for the first time less than 25 years ago - would be whatever original additions were made by the editor. It would be helpful if the specific piece and editor is mentioned, as the mere presence of a copyright claim (like one reading "Copyright Edition Peters 1915" - with an editor who died in 1920) does not mean something is still under copyright. The vast majority of Brahms' work was published long ago, so the chances of anything written by Brahms himself being protected are slim.

Hi again,

Thanks for all the replies. The case of a composer who is still alive is quite clear. He/she decides what to do with his/her work and I need his/her permission, right?

In the other case, my question was more in general, about some future (or past) work I'll do (or did), rather than with the specific Brahms score. Thus, I put the Brahms example because I'm working on the 4. Intermezzo, Op. 76 (http://imslp.org/wiki/8_Klavierst%C3%BC ... ohannes%29), but I have only a single photocopy of the score, so I'm not really sure about the copyright. Anyway, it looks the same as the uploaded one except from the layout (Op. 76, No. 4 as subtitle missing, bar numbers added,...). So, I guess I can upload my typesetted score as a .sib file. Anyway, it was only an example, and probably a bad one. I'm sorry.

But I can give a better example: I have a version of the Introduction and Variations on a theme by Mozart, Op.9 (Sor, Fernando) (http://imslp.org/wiki/Introduction_and_ ... ernando%29) and my version is edited by Brian Jeffery, copyright Tecla Editions 1996. I checked my version against the original one and there are differences like "Andante largo" instead of "Andante" or some notes added to embellish the melody. So, if I understood your replies correctly, I can typeset the score in Sibelius/Finale, removing the additions by Brian Jeffery so it will have only the same information as the original, and upload the .sib/.mus file to IMSLP. Also, if the .pdf file wasn't already uploaded, I could upload that too. Is that right?

Oh, and one more question. What about arrangements or transcriptions? Everybody can upload his own transcription of a piece? For example, I see a transcription of the Fantasía No. 10 (Mudarra, Alonso) (http://imslp.org/wiki/Fantasia_No.10_%2 ... _Alonso%29). If I made a different transcription from the original tab, can I upload it? Is there any kind of requirement to upload a new transcription?

Thanks again,
Víctor.

You cannot upload a typeset file alone. It must be attached to a PDF generated from it.