Copyright Question

[jamsav]

after a reasonable effort to find a piece of music has been made, and the music is " out of print " , do all copyright laws continue to apply ? or can I now photocopy and share without fear ?

[imperialbari]

Apparently all rules still apply.

The Danish publisher Edition Hansen has taken a productive approach. They don’t do new print runs when they run out of stock. Rather they have set up a print-on-demand facility, which makes sure their catalogue items never run out of print. There may be a short delay, but they always will be able to supply.

Klaus

[jamsav]

I assume that the laws continue to apply , love the idea of print on demand- but there seems to have been a lot of music that has simply been lost and not catalogued by the copyright holder...

[pgym]

Unless the rights holder specifically releases a piece into the public domain, any and all copyright provisions still apply for the duration of the copyright, regardless of whether or not the title remains in print; so, no, you may not copy or distribute the piece unless you have obtained permission (get it in writing to cover your butt) from the rights holder.

Contact the publisher of record. "Out of print" does not necessarily mean an item is "unavailable", only that it's not being actively marketed by the publisher. The publisher may have unsold copies in inventory or may be able to provide a one-off copy for a nominal fee.

[imperialbari]

I don’t know which piece(-s) of music you are looking for, but I should have mentioned one distributor with the somewhat unique feature of having offices in the US and in Europe. David Thompson, an American, usually plays solo horn in the Barcelona orchestra, but currently fills a temporary vacancy as solo horn in Hong Kong, so he has a very wide network. The site of his company is here:

http://www.thompsonedition.com/

I never did business with David, but we know each other from the horn list he runs.

Klaus

[hup_d_dup]

I asked for and was kindly given permission by Alfred Music to photocopy Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances (arr. for band). The edition is copyrighted but out of print. I was allowed to copy all parts at no charge. I am not authorized to sell or re-distribute.

[iiipopes]

What pgym said.

[jamsav]

follow up ...is it fully legal to resell music that we have paid for that is still copyright protected ?
As a matter of common practice , we know that this is done all of the time, but is the letter of the law being skirted ?

[pgym]

Yes, provided that the particular copies you purchased are lawfully made copies, and that you do not retain any copies (which would not be lawfully made copies unless you received explicit permission to make them from the copyright holder) for your future use.

First sale doctrine, aka exhaustion of rights, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109, provides that an individual who knowingly purchases a lawfully made copy of a copyrighted work from the copyright holder receives the right to sell, give away, display or otherwise dispose of that particular copy, notwithstanding the interests of the copyright owner. The right to distribute ends, however, once the owner has sold that particular copy. See 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) & (c).

First sale doctrine never applies unauthorized reproductions of a copyrighted work, so the first sale doctrine cannot be a successful defense in cases that allege infringing reproduction.

Further, the privileges created by the first sale principle do not "extend to any person who has acquired possession of the copy or phonorecord from the copyright owner, by rental, lease, loan, or otherwise, without acquiring ownership of it" (17 U.S.C. § 109(d).

[jamsav]

Yes, provided that the particular copies you purchased are lawfully made copies, and that you do not retain any copies (which would not be lawfully made copies unless you received explicit permission to make them from the copyright holder) for your future use.

First sale doctrine, aka exhaustion of rights, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109, provides that an individual who knowingly purchases a lawfully made copy of a copyrighted work from the copyright holder receives the right to sell, give away, display or otherwise dispose of that particular copy, notwithstanding the interests of the copyright owner. The right to distribute ends, however, once the owner has sold that particular copy. See 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) & (c).

First sale doctrine never applies unauthorized reproductions of a copyrighted work, so the first sale doctrine cannot be a successful defense in cases that allege infringing reproduction.

Further, the privileges created by the first sale principle do not "extend to any person who has acquired possession of the copy or phonorecord from the copyright owner, by rental, lease, loan, or otherwise, without acquiring ownership of it" (17 U.S.C. § 109(d).

wow ! Thank you- somethings here for all of us to be mindful of...thanks again- jim