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A ton of us do it.


Simple fact is--there is no PUBLISHED excerpt book out there that is as comprehensive as we would like. So, many of us copy parts as we go, making an ever-expanding home-made excerpt book.

Is this legal? We are not copying the whole work (just 1 part), and we are not using those copies for monetary gain. I do not know the specifics of copyright laws as it would apply to this...

Anyone know?

Dean wrote:Is this legal? We are not copying the whole work (just 1 part), and we are not using those copies for monetary gain.

As I understand the copyright law (I'm kind of a geek on the subject), these books are absolutely against the law if the excerpts in the books are under copyright (which many tuba exerpts are). The fact is, no one is going to be coming after you, but just like going 66 on most highways, it is definitely against the law.

Slightly off the subject, I've always wondered what the legality of the Cherry Classics CD is. Yes, the works on the disc are in the public domain, but the engraving may still be under copyright by the publisher (Kalmus, Boosey-Hawkes, etc.). Just a thought...

BTW, I give my students copies of excerpts often. I'm playing Sensamaya in a couple of weeks and you can bet I'll be making a clean photocopy of that part for my library.

Besides not being worth the cost of prosecution, I imagine that the test would be "did you deprive someone of their hard-earned profit?". Since there is no way to obtain these pieces through legitimate means, the answer is "not realistically".

So as Scott said, it'd be like announcing that you drove 66. Legal? No. Worth the aggrevation of prosecution? I didn't hear how fast you said you went, there was a motorcycle going by just then...

Dean wrote:A ton of us do it.

Simple fact is--there is no PUBLISHED excerpt book out there that is as comprehensive as we would like. So, many of us copy parts as we go, making an ever-expanding home-made excerpt book.

Is this legal? We are not copying the whole work (just 1 part), and we are not using those copies for monetary gain. I do not know the specifics of copyright laws as it would apply to this...

Anyone know?

A musician lawfully could use copyrighted excerpts, not only for his or her own reference, but also to illustrate textual commentary were he or she to publish an article or book.

Copyrighted works are the main concern, but normally not works out of copyright. You're probably not really creating a compilation of works, but filing them together for easy reference. The financial interests of the copyright owner probably are not materially impaired.

"Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. For example, if you wish to criticize a novelist, you should have the freedom to quote a portion of the novelist's work without asking permission. Absent this freedom, copyright owners could stifle any negative comments about their work.

Unfortunately, if the copyright owner disagrees with your fair use interpretation, the dispute will have to be resolved by courts or arbitration. If it's not a fair use, then you are infringing upon the rights of the copyright owner and may be liable for damages.

The only guidance is provided by a set of fair use factors outlined in the copyright law. These factors are weighed in each case to determine whether a use qualifies as a fair use. For example, one important factor is whether your use will deprive the copyright owner of income. Unfortunately, weighing the fair use factors is often quite subjective."

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_a ... index.html

Quite apart from keeping a copy of the part for future reference, I always now copy each part as soon as I get it for practice purposes.

A few years ago I got half way to a gig, to remember the music was still on my music stand at home! Since then I always practice at home using a copy part and leave the original in the instrument case.

That practice copy is then filed away for future reference after the gig. Probably not strictly legal, but what harm does it do the copyright owner*?

* And I speak as someone who's own livelihood depends on royalties from copyright.

Those 'fair use factors' that some of you have mentioned are simply someone's interpretation of the law and mean nothing if the copyright owner has a different interpretation. By the letter-of-the-law, it is illegal to reproduce copyrighted material by any means for any purpose. That includes manual transcription.

We've all done it in one form or another but that doesn't make it legal.... no matter what the situation is.

It has to be illegal, but since the beginning, musicians have compiled "fatbooks" of tunes they need. I have my uncle's fat book of Broadway hits from the 40's and 50's-melody lines and chords-three tunes to a page.
I have words and chords from 30 years ago of material I could ill afford and having found the sheet music (Beatles were the worst) deliberately misleading, was forced to borrow tunes or record off the radio to have enough recent material to work.
If you earn $75 a night in someone's bar, and have to pay for a set of strings every week as well as valve oil and chem-cleanings, how many c.d.'s can you afford to buy to get just one servicible tune off of an album?
I have to maintain a list of 300-plus tunes just to keep myself interested-not to mention an audience.
So condemn me if you must, but if you ever stop by my house, I will play you some killer tunes.
I don't know of any music publisher that could quickly find me:
Rodney Carrington's "Lying Here With Larry on my Mind". (really funny)

So, you don't mind that my dentist gives away copies of the half-fast creekers' latest CD to all his paitients?

sloan wrote:So, you don't mind that my dentist gives away copies of the half-fast creekers' latest CD to all his paitients?

That wouldn't be so bad, as when he played a track, then said, "spit!"...

That would be Labrador Logic

sloan wrote:So, you don't mind that my dentist gives away copies of the half-fast creekers' latest CD to all his paitients?

Actually, the more copies circulating around, the more requests we get for sales. May not be an all-bad thing. I donate more than my wife approves of (dangled another participle) but it's fun for me to turn folks on to happy music.
It would be bad if a doctor decided to stir up business by using my c.d. to make people sick.
Dennis Gray
tubatooter1940
www.johnreno.com/
"We got your Labrador Logic"