Les Troyens

[vinteuil]

I know this is a huge request (full score), but does anyone have any access to the Breitkopf? The Kalmus is in 2 parts, and one isn't very good.

[daphnis]

I do (from the old Complete Works edition) and have plans to scan it (especially now that Alaric was kind enough to upload the full score of "Faust") but it's waaay down on my list. I have plans to scan & upload the vocal score before the full score, and that should happen sometime this year.

[vinteuil]

Well...at least it's on the list!
I'll send you a PM about Faust.

[sbeckmesser]

The Barenreiter critical edition of Troyens was published in 1969, more than 25 years ago. I have a copy of the Eulenburg miniscore version (with its REALLY tiny print and a new preface dated 1973). Is either that or the original Barenreiter out of copyright anywhere? If so, would only the music itself be PD or also the frontmatter? What about the critical report (Barenreiter's Volume 3), which contains some valuable variants.

--Sixtus

[daphnis]

The B should be PD in Canada because of urtext status, although I would avoid scanning it from the E because of its miniature size. The music only is PD and none of the prose. Note that if either of these are uploaded, they'll not pass go, not collect $200 and instead go straight to copyright jail (ie. [TB]).

[Carolus]

Ironically, this is one area where the EU is actually pretty good in copyright matters. The NBA Les Troyens is public domain in Germany (via Section 70 of their copyright law, which sets the term for urtext editions at 25 years from publication), and in the EU itself (where such editions are subject to an optional term of no more than 30 years from publication. Italy's is only 20 years, for example). It was probably never subject to copyright in Canada, as Canada's "threshold of originality" is set pretty high. The big problem is the edition's status in the USA, where it is technically protected until 2064. There hasn't been a court case in the USA addressing the originality of such editions, so the default position is to assume they are protected. If a serious court challenge were made, they would probably end up being declared un-copyrightable due to a failure to meet the "threshold of originality" as defined in the Supreme Court case Feist vs. Rural. Mounting such a challenge would mean spending well over a million dollars in legal fees, so it's not likely to happen anytime soon.