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Distributing, performing and recording music from Musica Viva |
- Public domain music
Most of the music here was written by people who has been dead so long that all copyrights have expired. This means that the music is free for everyone to use in any way they like. The edition of the music here at Musica Viva is copyrighted by me, though. - My own compositions and arrangements
These are all copyrighted by me, of course. - Other people's compositions and arrangements
There are a few pieces here copyrighted by other people. I've been granted permission to post these pieces here at Musica Viva, but apart from that I have no legal rights to them at all. - don't charge anybody for it
- distribute paper copies, not the computer files (except for the ABC files, see further down on this page.)
- include the name (Musica Viva) and URL (http://www.musicaviva.com) of your source.
- I know it's not common to report smaller concerts to a performing rights socety. In some way this makes sense. There's a lot of paperwork and very little money in it. That doesn't make it legal, though. Also, no reports means no performing rights income to the composer/arranger, which again in the long run means less music for you to play. Besides, it's only fair that if you make some money playing, the guys who wrote the music you played should have their small share.
- There is of course, no fee for playing public domain music. Technically if you play - say a Mozart concert - you are required to report it to your performing rights society and pay the standard fee. The society will then look at it, thank you for the trouble and return the money to you. This doesn't make much sense, of course, so my advice is that you don't bother with the performing rights society at all if you're absolutely sure that all the music on the program is in the public domain.
- Many larger music organisations have special agreements with the performing rights societies.
- There are some special laws applying to "dramatic rights" (operas, musicals etc.) I won't go into detail about that, since it has nothing to do with Musica Viva.
- Legally Musica Viva is no different from any conventional music publisher, so the laws applying to printed music also apply to music from Musica Viva.
- I definitely weant a free copy of the record.
- I might require the right to include a sample from the record at Musica Viva. (You shouldn't mind this at all, btw. It's good, free publicity :-)
- There are a few dozen pieces at Musica Viva that are off-limit for various reasons.
- I will almost certainly require permission to post those re-arrangements at Musica Viva.
Are the music at Musica Viva copyright protected?
Yes and no. The music at Musica Viva can be divided into three categories:Back to top
Can I distribute the music to my friends/members of my ensemble?
Yes. As long as youBack to top
How about commercial distributions?
Contact me first. I'm sure we can make some deal.Back to top
Can I post the files from Musica Viva at my own web site?
Not unless I have given you permission to do so. Again the ABC files is an exception.Back to top
How about the ABC files?
You can re-distribute the ABC files from Musica Viva in any way you like as long as you don't charge any money for them and don't modify them.Back to top
Can I perform the music from Musica Viva in public?
The same rules apply to music from Musica Viva as to any other music you play.The performing laws might vary between different nations, but generally you can play any music you like in concert without any special permission. This doesn't mean you can do it for free, though. Every country has a performing rights society that takes care of the composer/arranger's rights and all public performances of music should be reported to the local performing rights society! They will then charge you a (very modest) fee on behalf of the copyright holders.
I think I should add a few comments to this:
I'm afraid it's all rather complicated, but if you play music in public, you really should know something about the laws. And as I said, this all aplies to all music, there's nothing special about music from Musica Viva in this repsect. If you're in doubt, you should contact your local performing rights society for more information. The Norwegian one, TONO, has compiled a really nice list of links to performing rights societies all over the world at http://www.tono.no/cisac.html.
Oh, and one more detail:
If there is a printed program for the concert, you should also include the name (Musica Viva) and URL (http://www.musicaviva.com) of your source. I don't think there are any laws about that, but there is something called common courtesy.
Back to top
Can I record the music from Musica Viva?
Again, usually yes, but with some limitations:Back to top
Can I rearrange music I got from Musica Viva?
Usually yes, but there are a few limitations, so ask me first. The two most important points are:Back to top
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