Bulk redistribution of MIDI files from Open libraries (Open Well-Tempered Clavier, Open Goldberg, OpenScore LiederCorpus)
Hello,
I noticed there are some amazing Open scores hosted on musescore (Open Well-Tempered Clavier, Open Goldberg, OpenScore LiederCorpus). I think these were publicly funded projects with the spirit of removing all barriers to accessing and using the contained files.
My question is - can I download all these files from musescore and redistribute them how I wish? I want to build them into an app that plays midi files. It looks like I should be able to download them all once I sign up for a Pro account. I just want to make sure redistribution doesn't violate the license agreement of the musescore web app.
Thanks so much!
Comments
I believe almost all of those are in the Public Domain (IIRC all but one in OpenLiederCorpus) and as such don't require a Pro membership for downloading them. Hard to tell for me though, being a Pro member myself ;-)
But I guess your question might be better suited for/in the corresponding groups on musescore.com.
In reply to I believe almost all of… by Jojo-Schmitz
Thanks for the help Jojo-Schmitz
I didn’t see a forum section for legal questions. This is an important matter to sort out. I assumed as you did that I shouldn’t need a Pro account to download open scores. However, musescore is forcing me to purchase Pro to download any score. They transparently give reasons for charging but they don’t apply to public domain copyright-free scores in my opinion.
Perhaps we can open up a healthy debate?
In reply to Thanks for the help Jojo… by aliston18
@aliston18, see: https://musescore.com/groups/musescore-updates-and-statuses/discuss/504…
and: https://openscore.cc/#home
In reply to @aliston18, see: https:/… by Shoichi
Thanks! Great find :)
In reply to Thanks for the help Jojo… by aliston18
You need a Pro account for downloading all non-PD and all non-original works scores.
Like you should be able to download e.g.:
https://musescore.com/openscore-lieder-corpus/scores/5726490
without having a Pro account. Although as said earlier, I can't really test this.
But that is a topic for the groups on musescore.com
In reply to You need a Pro account for… by Jojo-Schmitz
I am not a Pro member and I can download it (in a number of different formats).
In reply to You need a Pro account for… by Jojo-Schmitz
Thanks - this particular file downloads for me
In reply to Thanks - this particular… by aliston18
Then all (but one) from that set should be downloadabled too. The one that is PD in most but not all countries (like the USA) is
https://musescore.com/openscore-lieder-corpus/clara-schumann---lorelei
I guess you can't download that without being Pro?
In reply to Then all (but one) from that… by Jojo-Schmitz
I could download that one too, and I am not a Pro member as far as I know.
In reply to I could download that one… by AndreasKågedal
Hmm, OK, not quite sure then why.
In reply to Hmm, OK, not quite sure then… by Jojo-Schmitz
I don’t know why I can’t download from Open Goldberg or Open Well Tempered Clavier...
In reply to I don’t know why I can’t… by aliston18
Maybe those haven't yet been marked as PD?
Indeed, I see not PD marking on any of the OpenGoldberg scores.
Check https://musescore.com/openscore/sheetmusic and https://musescore.com/openscore-lieder-corpus/sheetmusic, a blue PD labels for (allmost) all scores, none in https://musescore.com/groups/opengoldberg/sheetmusic nor the one in https://musescore.com/user/71163/sheetmusic
In reply to Maybe those haven't yet been… by Jojo-Schmitz
Sorry to intrude.
Often my scores, laboriously updated as PD, have returned to the non-PD state. Sometimes repeatedly. So I'm trying, but it takes time, to include links to IMSLP or Wikipedia (Mutopia unfortunately is not contemplated). Could the same have happened for some of those mentioned?
In reply to Sorry to intrude. Often my… by Shoichi
Probably nobody yet took care of setting them to PD in that new way. Better to bring this up in "Improving MuseScore.com" and/or those groups?
In reply to Probably nobody yet took… by Jojo-Schmitz
The attempt can be repeated. Do not push, respect the line ;-)
Edit:
https://musescore.com/groups/openscore/discuss/5048756
https://musescore.com/groups/improving-musescore-com/discuss/5048755
In reply to Thanks for the help Jojo… by aliston18
@aliston18
"I didn’t see a forum section for legal questions."
I think that the MuseScore team is trying to make the situation easier to understand.
Visit the MuseScore web pages which host the music for OpenScore and OpenScore LiederCorpus:
https://musescore.com/openscore/sheetmusic
https://musescore.com/openscore-lieder-corpus/sheetmusic
Way down the left side of the page you will find a filter headed "LICENSES", and if you click on one of the headings "To use commercially", "To share" or "For personal use" you should still see the entire list of PD (public domain) scores. As @Jojo-Schmitz pointed out, almost every work in the OpenScore Lieder Corpus should now be marked as PD.
In reply to @aliston18 I think that the… by DanielR
Thanks Daniel.
That all makes sense. However, when I click on a score from OpenScore and view the License in the right panel, it is listed as Creative Commons copyright waiver. Scores from Open Goldberg also show the exact same Creative Commons copyright waiver. Scores are getting filtered out when I click on the ‘Public Domain’ or ‘Commercial’ categories while in Open Goldberg. It seems that not all scores have been updated with the PD tag. Is PD the same as CC0?
Thanks
In reply to Thanks Daniel. That all… by aliston18
@aliston18
"Is PD the same as CC0?"
The short answer is "no".
See definitions in Wikipedia:
PD (public domain) - https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Public_domain
CC0 (Creative Commons "no copyright reserved") - https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/CC0
By marking our scores "OpenScore (CC0)", we place them in the Public Domain for anyone to use. And the "PD" flag attached to scores on musescore.com is just a quick visual reminder that they are indeed in the public domain, as a result of the CC0 declaration.
"Open Goldberg. It seems that not all scores have been updated with the PD tag"
Correct: those scores were all uploaded long before MuseScore.com introduced the "PD" system and its visual flag. The owner (uploader) of the scores would need to confirm their PD status score by score.
In reply to @aliston18 "Is PD the same… by DanielR
Okay, thanks for bearing with me here. So if the new PD tag is a result of the CC0 declaration which is already in place, couldn’t a db admin save many owners the trouble of manually updating the PD status score by score? Why not use a quick update query in the database to update them all at once?
In reply to Okay, thanks for bearing… by aliston18
Because verification
In reply to Okay, thanks for bearing… by aliston18
"Why not use a quick update query in the database to update them all at once?"
Because the (manual) process of confirming and assigning the PD flag requires at least step 1 and in many cases step 2 or 3 of the following:
1. Entering the official title of the work or set (song cycle, variations, preludes & fugues etc)
2. Entering the URL of a matching public domain score in PDF format on imslp.org
3. Entering the URL of a matching page about the work on wikipedia.org
Why make it so difficult? Because the MuseScore management has to ensure that scores tagged as PD really are in the public domain. All these changes to identify and flag PD scores occurred because MuseScore was facing lawsuits from music publishers (the copyright owners). Solution: pay royalties to the copyright owners where works are not in the public domain, and make very clear which scores are in the public domain where no royalties are due to anyone.
In reply to "Why not use a quick update… by DanielR
Yes, but as I pointed out, they all currently are listed as having the same CC0 license irrespective of the necessary PD verification process. I’m not grasping what the difference is in terms of what I am allowed to do with the files (PD vs CC0). Maybe I’m getting too into the weeds here - I just want to know if I can use all these CC0 files commercially.
Thanks
In reply to Yes, but as I pointed out,… by aliston18
Those CC0 scores with a PD label have been verified to really be PD.
CC0 means that the uploader waivers all rights to that particular score, not that there are no other rights involved and possible violated, like those of the composer, lyricists, arranger or original publisher.
The PD label means that it has been verified that there are no such other rights violated
In reply to Those CC0 scores with a PD… by Jojo-Schmitz
“You should also not apply Creative Commons licenses to works that are no longer protected by copyright or are otherwise in the public domain. Instead, for those works in the worldwide public domain, we recommend that you mark them with the Public Domain Mark.”
https://creativecommons.org/faq/#can-creative-commons-give-legal-advice…
It seems to say that you should pick one or the other as a label and not both (CC and PD)
In reply to “You should also not apply… by aliston18
@ aliston18
I agree that this is difficult. The problem is that the act of transcribing a score from a PDF file (e.g. a public domain file sourced from imslp.org) creates a new entity. The transcriber has to give away the right to this newly-edited work, and that's why we use the "CC0" mark. The "CC0" applies both to the transcriber's version (the score uploaded to musescore.com for review) and to the final version published as OpenScore or OpenScore Lieder Corpus.
From a legal point of view, it is also very important that the source material is confirmed to be in the public domain - hence the need for the PD flag. If this step is missed, then MuseScore is at risk of being sued for breach of copyright. I can only speak about the OpenScore Lieder Corpus, but there I have seen a few cases where we thought works were in the public domain - and they were not! The usual reason is that the lyricist's text is still copyright-protected, although the music itself is already out of copyright. It revolves around the "70 years since death" rule for copyright protection, which applies equally and separately to composer and lyricist.
Complicated? You bet...