Covers, Copyright and Status ("Public Domain" / "Original")
Dear musescore support team,
I want to upload a piano cover of a well-known song, not yet in Public Domain(PD).
In doing so, if possible, I'd like to keep it printable for all users (also non premium/pro).
When uploading, I have to set the "Status" of the score to "PD" or "Original".
As I understand it, "PD" means that it's downloadable for everyone.
"Original" means that only pro users can download it.
Does the status also affect whether it's printable or not?
Many scores of the same song on musescore are neither marked as PD, nor marked as Original.
Why/How is that?
Can I -without infringing copyright laws- upload the score so that it's printable for everyone?
What status do I have to set?
Thanks in advance for answering.
Best regards
Nick Winter
Comments
Wrong site, see https://musescore.org/en/faq#faq-20657
In reply to Wrong site, see https:/… by Jojo-Schmitz
Hello Mr. Schmitz,
I'm sorry but when I asked for support on musescore.com, I got told via email to repost my questions on this exact site here. So I reposted my message here.
See:
"Paula Abdul (MuseScore)
Jul 27, 2020, 12:45 PM GMT+2
Hi,
Thank you for reaching out to us.
We provide support via the Musescore forums at https://musescore.org/en/forum/6
So please repost your message in there and our developers will help you out with your question.
Looking forward to see you in our forums!
Best,
Musescore support team"
Where should I ask for support if I get redirected from musescore.com support to musescore.org support and backwards? I feel lost.
In hopes of clearing things out
Best regards
Nick Winter
In reply to Hello Mr. Schmitz, I'm sorry… by Nick Winter
Miss Paula Abdul has been known to redirect people to this forum in error.
There is nobody here reading from the .com platform, so none able to help you out as well. Do follow that FAQ-link provided and there you'll find the link to the correct support group on that site (improving musescore.com)
In reply to Miss Paula Abdul has been… by jeetee
Thanks, I will try
In reply to Hello Mr. Schmitz, I'm sorry… by Nick Winter
Scores are shared on musescore.com, not here, so public domain, original work and copyright issues clearly belong there, not here.
In reply to Scores are shared on… by Jojo-Schmitz
I'm sorry but I feel like you should tell this to Miss Paula and not me, as I was just redirected here by her.
I'm merely trying to navigate through this support maze where everyone redirects me to a place where I get redirected again.
Also I'm not trying to suggest things to improve musescore.com.
I'd simply like my questions to score status and copyright answered, so that I can avoid infringing copyright law.
So for me going to a support group that apparently (by it's name) literally focusses on "improving Musescore" is not an option I opted for in the first place, as it seems really unnatural.
I will however go there and try.
Thank you
In reply to I'm sorry but I feel like… by Nick Winter
It is indeed not that well-named given that it serves as a general catchall for "questions relating to the site". But, in a way, you are making a suggestion for an improvement - you want the information provided on the that site to be clearer, so you would know the answer just from reading what it tells you, without needing to ask :-)
For the record, though - if the song is not public domain, neither is your arrangement of it. It would be inappropriate to misrepresent that and call it PD if it is not. Since the song itself is not PD, your arrangement requires a Pro account to download - that's how the copyright owner of the song gets paid.
In reply to It is indeed not that well… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks :)
In reply to Hello Mr. Schmitz, I'm sorry… by Nick Winter
Scores are shared on musescore.com, not here, so public domain, original work and copyright issues clearly belong there, not here. Not to support@musescore.com though, but in https://musescore.com/groups/improving-musescore-com/
Quite simple: the song is not PD, nor your original work, nor do you have the copyright holder's agreement, so publishing it is a copyright violation.
In reply to Quite simple: the song is… by Jojo-Schmitz
You're wrong. I've been able to publish it without violating copyright after I found people who actually helped me answer my questions :)
In reply to You're wrong. I've been able… by Nick Winter
Assuming it is a piece that MuseScore has worked out a license agreement for, you are correct that it can be published there legally. However, downloads will still be limited to Pro accounts, so the copyright owners can be paid. If it is not a piece that MuseScore has a license agreement for, you can still post it - but it will soon be taken down. You won’t be liable for any copyright violation no matter what, though - MuseScore handles all the legal stuff.
In reply to Assuming it is a piece that… by Marc Sabatella
Ah, see. I actually didn't know about the license agreements on musescores side.
Is there a way to know which songs do have this license agreement worked out for?
Like a very long list of songs I could look at?
I would very much like to avoid writing covers of songs, which then get taken down again.
In reply to Ah, see. I actually didn't… by Nick Winter
No, such a list is not publicly available
In reply to No, such a list is not… by Jojo-Schmitz
aw :(
In reply to You're wrong. I've been able… by Nick Winter
Sure not, if your initial statement is true that it is neither Pd nor your original work, it is a copyright violation to publish it.
But musescore.com does have agreements with certain publishers and pay royalties to those.
Your song
https://musescore.com/user/35641675/scores/6269076
is sure copyrighted and needs a pro account to be able to download it.
In reply to Sure not, if your initial… by Jojo-Schmitz
And just to clarify - it is not a copyright violation to post such pieces unless you are posting without permission. MuseScore has permission, and thus you do, too. And even if you upload a piece MuseScore doesn't have permission for, you won't get in trouble; they'll just take your score down once a complaint is filed.