Posted by Chuck(G) on September 21, 2001 at 19:20:53:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Copying music. A Crime? posted by Richard on September 21, 2001 at 18:45:11:
I think th๋re are two areas of confusion here.
"Public domain" in fact means a work which has in toto passed from copyright protection or has never been subject to it. An arrangement or edition of public domain music contains some measure of original content and that content is under copyright protection. So yes, it's not legal or ethical to copy someone's modern arrangement of Gabrielli sonatas, but perfectly legal and ethical to work from an edition published prior to 1929.
Copying a hired part is illegal by the letter of the law, unless permission to do so is given by the publisher (there may also be the educational 10% guideline but that's ANOTHER issue). Separate from copyright are the performance rights. Just because I purchase the score and parts for a copyrighted work does not make it legal to perform it.
Copyright law is a bastard child; if the real world had to work in the same terms, we'd be hamstrung. Can you imagine purchasing, say, a microwave oven, but not being allowed to use it until a separate use fee had been paid?