Klarinet Archive - Posting 000124.txt from 1998/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Copyright
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 17:15:11 -0500

On Thu, 2 Apr 1998, Scott Morrow wrote:
> Wouldn't "your" work need to be a derivative of the original public domain
> piece and not of the copyrighted derivative?

Yes, but a person would have to prove that you used the copyrighted
derivative, and that would be difficult - especially if you had a copy of
the original.

> In a musical I was collaborating on, my partner wanted one of the pieces
> interwoven with spirituals. I found a book of spirituals in the library
> (arranged for voice with piano accompaniament) and copied down only the
> melody lines, figuring the songs were public domain but the arrangement was
> not. I then made my own arrangement independent of the arrangement in the
> book.

Your own arrangment is legal.

Roger Garrett
IWU