March Copyright Questions

[Jeff Keller]

Can anyone point me in the direction of someone well versed with the copyright of marches? I'm involved in a project that is still in its infancy.

Jeff Keller
jeffrey.keller@me.com" target="_blank" target="_blank

[J.Harris]

I think you need to be a little more specific with your question.

[eupher61]

If it has a copyright (note the spelling) of 1923 or later you can't use it. You can do whatever you want with "Stars and Stripes Forever" or "Barnum and Bailey ' s Favorite" as long as you are working with an edition dated pre-1923. Touch one of more recent editions and you're in deep doodoo.

With your USN connections, you should be able to find a lot better info than you can here. It would be interesting to see what your commander would say.

[Jeff Keller]

There is a project that a few of us military musicians are trying to take on. There is a compilation of 1st cornet parts in a single bound book called "March Music Melodies" compiled by Norman E. Smith. I know that there was a lot of red tape in putting this book together due to all of the copyright issues. We would like to get a collection of these books printed for most instruments starting with tuba, then euphonium. I would ask Mr Smith about his process in negotiating royalties and getting rights to certain pieces, but it is my understanding that he has recently passed away. Any ideas as to how to start a project like this? GIA Publications has since taken over all of Mr Smith's publications and was not involved in the negotiations/agreements with all of the various music publishers and copyright holders. I apologize for my spelling being atrocious as my phone has a mind of its own with the "autocorrect" feature.

Thanks for all of the help!

Jeff

[eupher61]

You'll need to contact the rights holders for each piece.
But, again, if any of the pieces were originally published at a time that means the original is no longer under protection, you can go to an original copy or other unprotected edition. Legally you cannot use an edition under copyright protection.