Re: [Musicians] Question About Sharing Music Notation

Hi All-- I have thought about this issue a lot. As David writes below, most composers are eager to have their music spread around and played--even those who have gone on to license their tunes through the various licensing organizations. However, some composers do not own the copyrights to their own tunes (especially in Scotland, where it is common for a music publisher to hold the copyright or in cases where the composer is deceased and the copyright is owned by the estate). And once in a while, a composer will not want his/her music posted online. Publishing companies are less likely to grant permission even though the tune in question might be easily found elsewhere on the web. Some composers want any publication of their tune to be exactly as they wrote it, not a particular version someone is playing. I do post tunes under copyright on websites but with limitations. As director of the Portland Megaband, I use the Megaband website to post the music that band members will be working on. Much of this is recent music. But the part of that site that contains the music is password protected--only available to current band members. We change the password every year. (I know of several other groups that use DropBox for this same purpose.) This is only scant protection for copyright holders because once someone has a music file in pdf format, it can go anywhere very easily. But it is better than having the music available for the world to download. In some cases, I contact the composer before we post to the Megaband site. If I have made any substantial changes to the tune, such as changing the key, or in once case the meter, I always contact the composer before using the tune in the Megaband. So far, everyone has given permission. I also post tunes on the Portland Collection website (am WAY behind in that endeavor). Those tunes are available to everyone without limitation. In the case of tunes under copyright, I obtain the composer's permission before posting. If I were ever to post an arrangement of a tune specific to a band/recording, I would obtain permission from the artists before posting on the Portland Collection site. These extra steps make me feel better about posting music on the web. Sue Songer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2017 11:45:56 -0400 From: David A Kaynor <davidkaynor(a)mac.com> To: A musician's discussion list <musicians(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: Re: [Musicians] A question about sharing music notation online Message-ID: <37E38D07-380D-40A6-96A9-6057E6F16465(a)mac.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 There are a lot of opinions and wishes out there. Here are mine, about publishing transcriptions of my compositions: I wish more people liked and played my tunes! I?d love to have transcriptions of my tunes out in the realms of folk and contra dance music. If my name, as composer, is on the transcriptions, GREAT! If not ? oh, well. It?s at least possible that someone with questionable taste (not to mention questionable values) might claim composership of something I made up, but it?s not keeping me awake at night. For one thing, documentation exists for everything I?ve composed. For another, even if someone did succeed in ?stealing? composership of something I made up, the people who really matter to me know the score, as it were. Except for The Montague Processional, none of my tunes are licensed, thus can be played in venues which don?t purchase licenses from ASCAP and BMI. Unless I manage to compose some tunes which more people find more interesting, all of the above is kind of moot ? David Kaynor <musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: tunes (as in last 20-30yrs). The Session but also contra websites too. Often these are posted by someone other than the composer and it's not listed as to whether they have permission to post. gigs for free.), we're working on learning a varied contra music repertoire for dancing. In fact, our community band is called 'Stolen Goods' as we're about learning from others. of the wider sharing so that others can benefit... just like we've benefited from looking at what others (like SPUDS) have posted. And we have Larry Unger and others too... irish and quebecois traditions but I'm just not sure as some of the contra musicians have tune books. Could refer to a few tune books. Asparagus) as we're trying to learn from their groove/chord lines etc. and we are just a local learning band that plays for 20 dancers. If we only have 1-2 from a particular band, are those ok to post? back to the wider community what we've been learning over the last number of years. ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2017 11:48:18 -0400 From: Sarah Gowan <ladysmyth(a)rcn.com> To: Emily Addison <emilyladdison(a)gmail.com> Cc: musicians(a)sharedweight.net Subject: Re: [Musicians] A question about sharing music notation online Message-ID: <A8B63A9B-6ADF-4FC4-AE0F-A78588652135(a)rcn.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Hi Emily- I?m the curator of the SPUDS online tune library - I?m so happy to hear other groups find our site useful! It?s my policy to ask composers (if known) if we have permission to post their tunes. Some, like Bob McQuillen, gave us free reign to arrange them how we wish and freely post any of their tunes. Others prefer only certain tunes or ask that we include contact and licensing information. Beware that trad tunes aren?t necessarily exempt. Some people are very proprietary about their arrangements. I removed a version of a traditional tune from one of my sites because a musician recognized his arrangement and wanted credit. I didn?t get it from his book, but also didn?t want the hassle, so it was easier to simply take it down and use a different version. If there are a hundred versions of a tune online already, I generally don?t get too anxious about reposting. If there are none or maybe one, I definitely ask. You can?t assume that because one site has posted them, that it?s ok for you to do the same. Some groups, like Princeton, avoid copyright problems by password-protecting access to their files so only group members can use them. They still ask composers if it?s ok to post, though. the only time I get annoyed is when they don?t include my name or try to sell them. (Yes that really happened). But I make most of my tunes freely available online anyway and I?m not trying to make a living as a musician. Hope this is helpful, Sarah https://www.thursdaycontra.com/~spuds/TuneLinks.html <musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: tunes (as in last 20-30yrs). The Session but also contra websites too. Often these are posted by someone other than the composer and it's not listed as to whether they have permission to post. gigs for free.), we're working on learning a varied contra music repertoire for dancing. In fact, our community band is called 'Stolen Goods' as we're about learning from others. of the wider sharing so that others can benefit... just like we've benefited from looking at what others (like SPUDS) have posted. And we have Larry Unger and others too... irish and quebecois traditions but I'm just not sure as some of the contra musicians have tune books. Could refer to a few tune books. Asparagus) as we're trying to learn from their groove/chord lines etc. and we are just a local learning band that plays for 20 dancers. If we only have 1-2 from a particular band, are those ok to post? back to the wider community what we've been learning over the last number of years.