Re: MIDI sequencing -- copyrightable??

On Wed, 24 May 2000, Timothy Phillips <hrothgar[_at_]telepath.com> wrote:
>
> So, for example, a MIDI sequence of a public domain melody,
> incorporating no original music whatsoever, would on this
> interpretation be in the public domain, just as a printed sheet
> of the same music would be: the MIDI sequencing doesn't in and
> of itself confer originality.
 

A common misconception; the music (the notes) may be public domain, but the printed expression of the music (typography, layout, etc.) may be copyrightable. Music is a horribly complex copyright situation (at least for the layman, as I am, and I believe even for the lawyers and solicitors). There's the copyright on the music, the performance, the printing, and the recording. Ech! Add in editorial notes on the printing, and you can have a non-copyrighted piece of music (staff notation) copyrighted because of editorial footnotes -- or copyrightable material because the manuscript or first couple of editions that are currently out of copyright had errors or omissions, and a corrected copy produced by an editor exists. Then the complexities of whether or not the edited version can be limied for performance and recording rights ensue.

As an amateur clarinetist and keeper of a large clarinet Web site, <http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/>, I can point you to 10 or so versions of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, KV 622, and tell you that each version is currently under copyright, and in some cases performance and recording rights must be granted. Not bad for something composed about 250 years ago ...

Mark Charette[_at_]sneezy.org Received on Thu May 25 2000 - 13:30:33 GMT