Re: Aphorisms and Copyright

On Tue, 25 Aug 1998, Timothy Phillips <hrothgar[_at_]telepath.com> wrote:
>
> In the U.S. we don't have a published-edition copyright. The 1909
> copyright law put it very clearly: "Copyright shall not subsist in the
> ORIGINAL TEXT of a work in the public domain". "Original text", not
> "original ink". The new law covers the same ground by applying only to
> original works of authorship. This would disqualify a straight reprint
> from copyright. You say yourself that I may copy from "a copy of the
> 16th century book." But if the modern songbook copies the old melody
> exactly, the melody in the modern songbook is no more copyrightable
> than it would be in a copy of the entire 16th century book.

O.K. But isn't there a copyright or neighbouring right of the publisher/editor for compiling the old melodies?

Moritz Roettinger
<moritz.roettinger[_at_]dg23.cec.be> Received on Wed Aug 26 1998 - 16:08:21 GMT