PPP210: Ten Things You Should Know About Copyright

21Sep 2020 by Shelly Davis

I am not an attorney. Any comments made on the podcast or in the following show notes are my attempt to offer you guidelines for the proper use and purchase of someone else’s copyrighted material.

It is my utmost desire that we respect and value those people who have the skills and knowledge to produce printed music for our piano kids from which to learn, play, and enjoy.

Listen to the full episode here

5 Things you CAN do with copyrighted music

1. Make a copy of a page to eliminate page turns.

2. Make a full copy of the entire song that you own to place in a binder (ie for church or weddings). You are also allowed to make copies as a personal backup.

3. Upload the score to a tablet or app like ForScore

4. Make a copy that you can annotate while keeping the original score ‘clean’.

5. Loan a book temporarily.

5 Things you CAN NOT do with copyrighted music

1. Make a copy to give to someone, a student or a friend, who has not purchased their own score.

2. Send a scanned image via email or text for the other person to keep without purchasing their own score. Be careful about sharing digital backups.

3. Use a copy of the original score in a festival or audition. Festival judges have great respect for the work of fellow teachers and composers. They will not allow students to perform if they do not produce the original music for the judge to follow.

4. Download unlicensed sheets of copyrighted music. Just because you can find it on the internet does NOT mean it is free for the taking. A great resource for music that is in the public domain is IMSLP.

5. Make a copy of a new edition of public domain music or music that is out of print.

What do other organizations recommend in regard to copyright?

American Musicological Society

Music Teachers National Association

National Association of Teachers of Singing

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