• Welcome to the Pipe Organ Forum! This is a part of the open community Magle International Music Forums focused on pipe organs (also known as "church organs"), organists, organ music and related topics.

    This forum is intended to be a friendly place where technically advanced organists and beginners (or even non-organists) can feel comfortable having discussions and asking questions. We learn by reading and asking questions, and it is hoped that the beginners (or non-organists) will feel free to ask even the simplest questions, and that the more advanced organists will patiently answer these questions. On the other hand, we encourage complex, technical discussions of technique, music, organ-building, etc. The opinions and observations of a diverse group of people from around the world should prove to be interesting and stimulating to all of us.

    As pipe organ discussions can sometimes become lively, it should be pointed out that this is an open forum. Statements made here are the opinion of the poster, and not necessarily that of the forum itself, its administrator, or its moderators.

    In order to post a new topic - or reply to existing ones - you may join and become a member by clicking on Register New User. It's completely free and only requires a working email address (in order to confirm your registration - it will never be given away!). We strive to make this a friendly and informative forum for anyone interested in pipe organs and organ music.

    (Note: If you wish to link to and promote your own website please read this thread first.)

    Many kind regards
    smile.gif

    Frederik Magle
    Administrator

    Krummhorn
    Co-Administrator

Copyright question

Organiste

New member
Is it a violation of copyright to post a performance online of a "modern" piece (meaning less than 50 years old :))? Does it make a difference where or how it is posted?

Anne
 

Dorsetmike

Member
On this site you can post excerpts of less than 1 minute duration of any work. If it is your own work/performance then no problem, post it, if it is a performance by someone else then it is their copyright, and I don't think the age of the work is the only criterion, a recorded performance is copyright by the performer and probably the recording company.

It can also depend on the country the work/recording is published in, and is usually related to the date of the composers death, I'm not sure about how it relates to performers or date of recording. Our esteemed regulator Lars, AKA Krummhorn, can give chapter and verse in more detail.

The reason we get away with up to 59 second excerpts instead of the more usual 30 seconds is that the forum is hosted in Denmark and is thus governed by Danish Copyright laws.
 

wljmrbill

Member
In USA I believe the clue is : performed for profit in public performance is violation of copywrite rules.. not positive.
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
. . . Our esteemed regulator Lars, AKA Krummhorn, can give chapter and verse in more detail.

The reason we get away with up to 59 second excerpts instead of the more usual 30 seconds is that the forum is hosted in Denmark and is thus governed by Danish Copyright laws.

Spot On, Mike!

Only to add, that a posted/copyrighted excerpt or performance [greater than 59 seconds] would require full acknowledgement of permissions received to re-publish the musical work ... AND ... the administrators would require a copy of that letter (from the artist/composer) in advance of posting.

Just because it is on YouTube does not mean it is in the Public Domain. Quite the opposite in many cases.

Be extremely careful - the penalties for violating copyright laws are very severe . . . and . . . well . . . one could literally lose their shirt if caught and prosecuted. It's simply not worth that risk unless you have several million dollars laying around as chump change, and have nothing else better to do than spending 5 years in a government penitentiary.

In a nutshell: If you have the slightest reservation that it might be wrong, it probably is.
 

Dorsetmike

Member
Lars, maybe you could expand on the duration of copyright after death of composer/author. Also in the case of a recorded work I believe the copyright subsists with the recording company, would a record made in say 1950 still be copyright? What, if any, is the time limit for that and is it affected by the life time of artist and/or composer?
 

Organiste

New member
Thank you for all the information so far. I knew this crowd would have the answer.

So all those people on YouTube who have posted their interpretations of Dale Wood and Josh Groban are in violation of copyright law? But not J. S. Bach?

Anne
 

FinnViking

Member
In finland it is forbidden to post anything (even one second) whose composer / any copyright holder is either living or died less than 70 years ago - unless you pay a fee. I believe this to be the EU standard. According to any copyright laws most music on youtube - pop and other lighter music in particular - seems to be illegal.
 
Last edited:

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Lars, maybe you could expand on the duration of copyright after death of composer/author. Also in the case of a recorded work I believe the copyright subsists with the recording company, would a record made in say 1950 still be copyright? What, if any, is the time limit for that and is it affected by the life time of artist and/or composer?

In the US it is 70 years after the death of the composer, or heirs of the composer who may also own the rights. You are correct about recordings ... and those time limits could be infinite if they are owned by a performing group/orchestra, and would not be in public domain until the demise of that group/orchestra and then after everyone has been deceased for 70+ years.

In France it gets a little tricker ... Jean-Paul could enlighten us more on this, but there I think it is closer to 95 years for copyrights. Seems during both world wars, the copyright time-clock was not ticking and France adds those years to the usual 70 that is almost universally accepted.

Denmark, I believe, has a 100 year provision on copyrights - Frederik could verify this. I've read the Danish copyright laws and they are specific about some "works" and not so specific on other types of "works", whether they are music or non-music.

Kh ♫

. . . So all those people on YouTube who have posted their interpretations of Dale Wood and Josh Groban are in violation of copyright law? But not J. S. Bach?

Anne

Not exactly, at least imho ... that is, unless the performance was for profit perhaps. That is fine line - as organists, we are free to play any music in worship services or concerts. We are playing the music - as opposed to selling copies of the manuscript afterwards.
 
Last edited:
Top