Posting scores made from IMSLP copyright Q
My main instrument is recorder and I import a lot of midi files from IMSLP into musescore. (I was ecstatic when I discovered you could do this!!!) If the midi file in IMSLP is for recorders, I often can just use as is. If not I can usually save time by starting with the midi file for other instruments and tweaking it to fit the recorder range.
So, my question is, is it ok to post these scores public section of musescore.org in terms of copyright issues?
Should I attribute the midi version used to the name on IMSLP if it is there?
Anyway, just wondering if it is ok to do this, I am not a professional musician, just a committed amateur. I think the scores might be very useful to other recorder players. I often practice my part by putting the stuff in songbook on my ipad and muting the other parts.
I really love musescore! It is such a wonderful learning tool.
Comments
In principle, any score on IMSLP should be in the public domain or licensed under a Creative Commons agreement, at least in most countries. When IMSLP hosts a score which is not PD in all countries, a pop-up warning appears when you attempt to download it, letting you know that the score might not be PD in your country.
Understand that uploaded material--and the information about it--on IMSLP are furnished by individual contributors in much the same manner that people edit or contribute articles to Wikipedia. IMSLP does not and cannot check the accuracy of copyright status claimed for all scores uploaded to its servers. From a legal standpoint, you are on your own if anyone challenges your use of something you downloaded from that site. So if someone uploads a midi-file of an arrangement of Let It Be for recorder consort, you'd probably be wise to take any claims it is PD or CC-licensed with a large grain of salt....
In addition, a midi file is obviously not the original score itself; as a computer file, it exists as intellectual property in its own right and its creator can place restrictions on its use. No midi file can be old enough to have passed naturally into the public domain, but many have been licensed by their creators under one of the CC copyright agreements. In those cases the terms of the particular license state what you may do with it or any derivatives of it.