Copyright Law ?

[n2ize]

A friend of mine posed this question to me. He was visiting a website which has some sheet music. He was interested in printing out a particular peice of music. However, he learned that it has been out of print for many years and although it is in the public domain in Canada it may not be in public domain here in the USA.

In any event he is afraid it might still be under copyright here in the USA. Although it was displayed on his web page and all he needed to do was hit PRINT to make a hard copy he was afraid to do so. He was afraid that he might get in some trouble with the law if it is still under copyright and if he prints a hard copy.

Is this individual being a bit overly cautious ? I tend to think so,.

[KC2UGV]

Yes. If it's out of copyright in Canada, it's out of copyright here as well, since both parties signed the WIPO treaty.

Plus, nobody is going to nail his ass for a sheet of 50 year old music that he prints out once.

Oh, yeah: I am not a lawyer. Should you need legal advice, please consult an attorney licensed in your area.

[W2NAP]

print the sheet.

[kb2vxa]

Copyright law involves publishing and/or using material for commercial, not private use. For that reason should what he published be used for financial gain and he not being in control of it he could be in a grey area. Still, like the man said it is highly unlikely, the material having gone PD a long time ago. Speaking of music copyright gone from the sublime to ridiculous is the song Happy Birthday. Yes it IS copyright so a hired clown singing it at a birthday party is subject to prosecution. Pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

[KA5PIU]

Copyright law involves publishing and/or using material for commercial, not private use. For that reason should what he published be used for financial gain and he not being in control of it he could be in a grey area. Still, like the man said it is highly unlikely, the material having gone PD a long time ago. Speaking of music copyright gone from the sublime to ridiculous is the song Happy Birthday. Yes it IS copyright so a hired clown singing it at a birthday party is subject to prosecution. Pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

Hello.

Happy Birthday is copyrighted.
However this does not mean you can not print or sing the song, provided you do not profit in any way.
http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/birthday.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You
If you sing this on stage as a part of a school play you are fine, provided there are no limitations on admission and there is no revenue involved.
If you sing this on stage at a rock concert, even if you are not a performer, everyone has a problem if copyright royalties are not paid.

[suddenseer]

print the sheet.a sheet I print. Upon a printed sheet I sit...

[K7SGJ]

Copyright law involves publishing and/or using material for commercial, not private use. For that reason should what he published be used for financial gain and he not being in control of it he could be in a grey area. Still, like the man said it is highly unlikely, the material having gone PD a long time ago. Speaking of music copyright gone from the sublime to ridiculous is the song Happy Birthday. Yes it IS copyright so a hired clown singing it at a birthday party is subject to prosecution. Pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

Gretchen was prosecuted for singing Happy Birthday at a party. It ended in a hung jury. All men?

[kb2vxa]

I must be hearing LDEs, it took 46 minutes to get the ping from Texas.

"It ended in a hung jury. All men?"
BOO HISS BOO!

[N2NH]

So, if you sing "You Light Up My Life" a lawyer might darken your door?

[NQ6U]

So, if you sing "You Light Up My Life" a lawyer might darken your door?

Yes. Even worse, though--an enraged music lover armed with a semi-automatic viola di gamba might "take you out." The song has that effect on some people...

[kf0rt]

Copyright law involves publishing and/or using material for commercial, not private use. For that reason should what he published be used for financial gain and he not being in control of it he could be in a grey area. Still, like the man said it is highly unlikely, the material having gone PD a long time ago. Speaking of music copyright gone from the sublime to ridiculous is the song Happy Birthday. Yes it IS copyright so a hired clown singing it at a birthday party is subject to prosecution. Pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

It's a pretty hairy deal, and yes, ridiculous.

I produce slide shows as a sideline -- these are actually digital conversions of film shows that are all 20-30+ years old. Very benign - High School reunion stuff. Original photos, but you can't really do a good slide show without music. Back in "the day" the music was all recorded from commercial LP's to tape and the tape drove the presentation. Nobody much cared and nobody was ever prosecuted for "stealing the music."

My Dad wanted to convert 18(?) of these shows to digital... think I've done 15 of them at this point. Needs to be digital because well, it's just a bitch to do this with slide projectors and analog tape these days. The audio comes from MP3s these days and it's a drag-drop in software. The end result is a file that runs on a laptop feeding a digital projector. They're shown at the HS reunions and are very popular. Popular enough that it'd be easy to sell DVDs of the show to offset the cost of the equipment.

Problem is, there's no way to license the music at this "low level." There's no way to go to ASCAP or BMI and say "I want access to everything and you can have 25% of any profits." It's not an option they offer. So, it becomes a hobby with no way to recoup costs, even though the soundtrack is secondary to the pictures (which we own). Dad charges the reunion committee $100 to present the show at a reunion. Sell DVDs, it becomes commercial.

Realistically, this goes on all the time, but there's no way of knowing when you've crossed the line until it's too late. We'd pay, but nobody wants to write a contract for the paltry amount they'd make, and they're too chickenshit to establish a policy for fear that they might miss an opportunity to get rich. Lawyers are standing by and all that....

[n2ize]

It's a pretty hairy deal, and yes, ridiculous.

I produce slide shows as a sideline -- these are actually digital conversions of film shows that are all 20-30+ years old. Very benign - High School reunion stuff. Original photos, but you can't really do a good slide show without music. Back in "the day" the music was all recorded from commercial LP's to tape and the tape drove the presentation. Nobody much cared and nobody was ever prosecuted for "stealing the music."

My Dad wanted to convert 18(?) of these shows to digital... think I've done 15 of them at this point. Needs to be digital because well, it's just a bitch to do this with slide projectors and analog tape these days. The audio comes from MP3s these days and it's a drag-drop in software. The end result is a file that runs on a laptop feeding a digital projector. They're shown at the HS reunions and are very popular. Popular enough that it'd be easy to sell DVDs of the show to offset the cost of the equipment.

Problem is, there's no way to license the music at this "low level." There's no way to go to ASCAP or BMI and say "I want access to everything and you can have 25% of any profits." It's not an option they offer. So, it becomes a hobby with no way to recoup costs, even though the soundtrack is secondary to the pictures (which we own). Dad charges the reunion committee $100 to present the show at a reunion. Sell DVDs, it becomes commercial.

Realistically, this goes on all the time, but there's no way of knowing when you've crossed the line until it's too late. We'd pay, but nobody wants to write a contract for the paltry amount they'd make, and they're too chickenshit to establish a policy for fear that they might miss an opportunity to get rich. Lawyers are standing by and all that....

Simple solution. Write your own music. Or, use one of the many pieces of royalty free music that are out there. If BMI and others consider their content so precious then let them lock it in a vault somewhere and keep it. Let those greedy bastards stew in their own self made utopia of greed.