Copyright

• Mar 4, 2013 - 03:39

I find Musescore a really good training aid. I have created files of songs that we are doing in a local comunity choir for my own use. I find that hearing and seeing the how the phrases should sound really useful when I am practicing on my own. As they are not my own work, I guess I should not upload them for all to see, but what about giving a copy to other members of the choir so that they can practice in teh same way? The choir master has all the copyright issues sorted for the sheet music we use but I am not sure about sharing the Musescore files I have created from that sheet music. We are not a proffesional choir, we just sing for fun but we do give concerts every now and then for charity.


Comments

Unfortunately there is no "fair use" clause in UK copyright law, otherwise this would fall under that category.

Having said that, the limited use you are specifying would probably not result in litigation, provided your choir members do not then disseminate the MuseScore files to other people.

Firstly, however, I would consult with your choir director as to which of the pieces fall into the public domain - according to UK copyright law music becomes public domain 70 years after the death of the composer.

There is absolutely no problem disseminating public domain music, provided you are not simply photocopying music and then distributing it, which would breach the publisher's copyright of the actual edition.

HTH
Michael

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