Asked By: Chris T - 9/25/2006

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Is there a composer listed for that music? If no composer is listed it's copyright is limited to photo copying those pages or including them in another published book.

In other words the NOTATION is copyrighed, like a drawing.

If the MUSIC itself is historic (over 120 years old) then it is PD

You need to look up national laws on copryights.

In the US, for example, phonorecords could not be copyrighted until 1976 and now old ones can be copyrights on a CASE BY CASE basis.

Thus a recording of a version of the Blue Danube from disk made in 1960 is legal to use, UNLESS there is some distinctive method of idnetifying this version as being from a specific source.

Generally philharmonics do not get royalties. College orchestras definatley don't.

You can't, however, use famous singers or solists. Segovia, for example, his family can sue and demand a "new use" fee from you.

YOu can, for example, using a recording of Caruso singing Ave Maria.

Classical radios stations ONLY pay royalties on modern classics. Ligetti, for example. Don't use that coral, he or his family sued Stanley Kurbrick over use in 2001.

You didn't say what nation you are in. But the Copyright laws are universal.

If the derviative work is over 120 years old, it is free to use BUT this does not mean you can SCAN and PUBLISH a current edition of Tom Sawyer typeset by someone else. THey can copyright that typesetting job!

You must transcribe it yourself.

MUSIC from Bach is defintaely PD, but a Schrimer sheet music sheet is protected from copying that PAGE.

Get a classic Hymnal and pick out only the classic tunes.

Then get your Choir to sing them and record it.

Get them to all sign releases and pay them a nomial fee.

Once you secure performance agreements, pick a tune that DEFINATELY ws written in Martin Luther's days you are clear.

IN fact. If YOU desive a new and unique arragnement to that song, yoiu can copyright it yourself and are entitled to get generally a 15?erformance royalty from any classic radio station that plays it through your performance rights orngaizaiotn.

Alan Price did this with the PD tune House of the Rising Sun and he gets 15?not 100?as arranger.

As another example. Gene Roddenberry made and took prints of Star Trek for public exhibition in 16mm.

Desilu Failed to copyright that show.

Paramount got a copyright on VHS and DVDs 20 years later.

Paramount does not stop trading of the 16mm prints made from the original Roddenberry sources.

Paramount doesn't want to rock the cradle, but don't you dare strike DVDs or VHS tapes of those prints!

Under the new case by case law, however, Paramount could get the 1965 copyrights reinstated, then they could go after sales of copies or clones, but they can't stop sales of original used prints.

ALTERNATIVE.

You can also get a Yamaha keyboard and use the CHORAL setting and play your own chants and record these.

Answered By: Earl D - 9/27/2006