Why do so many people not know what Public domain is in reference to sheet music?
I’ve read so many people tearing into others when someone asks for free sheet music, but sometimes it in public domain. I mostly spend time in the “Classical” section of Yahoo! Answers and see this a lot.
Now, Rachmaninoff might be hit or miss, especially if we’re talking about international Public domain (like Canada), but if someone asks for Pachelbel, Mozart and Beethoven, much of their work falls in that category. And remember, I’m not talking about a musical recording of them, just the music itself.
I’m not a legal expert, but there is a lot of free and LEGAL classical music out there. I understand why some are very passionate about it, and rightfully so. But not everything downloaded on the internet is illegal. So why don’t more people know about it?
*Disclaimer* I myself have downloaded some obscure classical works out of my curiosity, but I’ve more than purchased my fair share of sheet music over the years.
Mostly because people are ignorant of the law and computers, image scanners and file sharing have done nothing to help support copyright.
I guess the real test is when people color photocopy cash on two-sided paper and claim that it is legitimate. (Okay most (all?) photocopiers now have technology to prevent that from happening.)
Copyright as applied to music covers recordings and specific engravings/arrangements. While the composer’s original music may well be in the public domain, a recent edition produced by Hal Leonard, G. Shirmer, Edition Peters or whoever is copyrighted by that publisher.
So, no, while a lot of the classical sheet music that is available on the internet is in the Public Domain or covered by Creative Commons not all of it is. And making an original arrangement of music (intellectual property) that is still in the original copyright does violate that copyright.
… *Disclaimer*? I don’t even know her.
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