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Contents

Basics of Canadian copyright

Because the two main IMSLP servers are physically hosted in Canada (one at Montreal and the other at Toronto), IMSLP follows Canadian copyright laws, which may differ from your country. The briefest summary of Canadian copyright law would be that copyright persists for the composer or editor (if any) for 50 years after his/her death.

There is no copyright purely in the publication itself, and therefore any non-edited reprint or re-engraving of a public domain edition is also public domain. However, in the case that there is significant anonymous editing, Canadian copyright law does state that copyright persists for only publication + 50 years for anonymous works, which is until the editor becomes publicly known, in which case it reverts back to the life + 50 years. However, because of the uncertain nature, the use of this clause is discouraged. The date of publication may also be significant in determining the public domain status of works in the US (see Pre-1923 copyright law).

Also, for the editing to qualify for the full term of life + 50 years (or indeed any copyright term at all), the editing must be significant. The following is a non-exhaustive list of significant and insignificant editing actions:

  • Significant: Transcriptions/arrangements, realizations of figured basses.
  • Insignificant: Transposition, error correction, translation of stock expression indications and instrument names.
  • Ambiguous: Adding fingerings, articulations and/or dynamic markings.

Insignificant editing actions have no copyright in themselves, whereas significant editing does. However, there are exceptions in many countries for scholarly ("scientific") editions, which includes critical editions (notably Barenreiter) and urtext editions. Please read the Exceptions section for more information.

Only works that are first published in countries that are members of the WTO or Berne Convention are subject to copyright in Canada; however, in most cases this applies retrospectively, unless the work was already in the public domain in its native country (i.e. the country in which the first publication occurred) when either treaty was signed.

Some works are in the public domain in the U.S., but not yet public domain in Canada and other countries. The reason for this is that the US law calculates terms from the date of first publication for all works published before 1978. If a work was published before 1923 (see Pre-1923 copyright law), or first published in the U.S. from 1923-1963 without copyright renewal (see 1923-1963 copyright law), it is almost certain to be public domain in the USA. These files are hosted on IMSLP's U.S. server.


Please note that the total copyright length (i.e. the length before it enters the public domain) of a particular score is equal to the longest of the copyright terms given to the three concerned parties (composer, publisher, and editor if there is one). For example, a re-engraved edition of the Beethoven sonatas, published by Henle in 1985 is copyrighted (it has been edited by an editor whose work is not yet in the public domain, plus the initial typeset of this edit is also copyrighted, and the 25-year German term covering urtext editions is still in force.); while a Dover publication of 1995, which is merely a reprint of old editions, is in public domain (except for the title page and cover, i.e. stuff Dover added; there is no publisher copyright here because the initial typeset is in the public domain; there is no copyright in reprinting public domain typesets). The copyright claim can usually be found on the bottom of the first page of a score.

We expect uploaders to put considerable effort into assuring that the upload is in the public domain in Canada or the U.S. Please add relevant commentary to the work page or file entry. The date of publication is extremely important for determining the U.S. copyright status of any work published before 1978.


The following tables give a quick overview of the copyright situation. Note that these tables list only the conditions under which a work is or is not in the public domain in Canada (and countries where the term is life+50 years), the USA, the EU, Russia (and countries where the term is life+70 years). This is the situation in 2007 and the limits 1937 and 1956 change every year except in the USA, where a publication date is paramount. The term "author" refers to either the composer, an orchestrator, arranger, or an editor.

Copyright on the composition and publication if author known, published before 1923

Author's death Canada,
life+50 countries 		United States EU, Russia,
life+70 countries 		Template to be used on IMSLP
<1937
public domain (life+50)
public domain
(no exceptions for all intents and purposes†)
public domain (life+70)
 None: always public domain
1937-1956
copyrighted
 Work:
Template:WorkNonPD-EU
>1956
copyrighted
Composer: Template:Copyright
Work: Template:Work1923
File: Template:File1923
(Hosted on US Server!)
  • †(Certain foreign works published after 1909 might be protected in the western US states under the jurisdiction of the
    9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.)

Copyright on the composition and publication if author known, published after 1923

Author's death Canada,
life+50 countries 		United States EU, Russia,
life+70 countries 		Template to be used on IMSLP
<1937
public domain (life+50)
copyrighted
unless proof of non-renewal and NIE status is provided‡
public domain (life+70)
 {{WorkNonPD-US}}, {{FileNonPD-US}}
1937-1956
copyrighted
unless proof of non-renewal and NIE status is provided‡
copyrighted
Composer:
Template:ComposerNonPD-USandEU
Work:
Template:WorkNonPD-USandEU
File: Template:FileNonPD-USandEU
>1956
copyrighted
Composer: Template:Copyright
Work: Template:WorknotPD
File: Template:FilenotPD

    ‡(Proof of non-renewal and NIE status applies only to works published 1923-1963. All works published after 1963 have been
    renewed automatically and enjoy a full term of 95 years after first publication.)

Corporate copyright on the publication, no author identified

Year Published Canada,
life+50 countries 		United States EU, Russia,
life+70 countries 		Template to be used on IMSLP
before 1923
public domain (pub+50)
public domain
public domain (pub+70 in most countries)
 None: always public domain
1923-1936
copyrighted (pub.+95), unless public domain in country of first publication
File: {{FileNonPD-US}}
1937-1956 Copyrighted File: Template:FileNonPD-USandEU
> 1956
copyrighted
File: Template:FilenotPD


Exceptions for works published abroad

Berne Rule of the Shorter Term

This rule shows up as 9(2) of the Canadian Copyright Act. This rule basically states that if a work is in the public domain in the country of origin, it is also public domain a country that signed the Berne convention. This rule has been adopted by Canada and the European Union (see here). This rule is not adopted by the USA.

U.S. Copyright Restoration

Works that were in public domain in the country of origin as of 1 January, 1996, are mostly not protected by U.S. copyright, unless a copyright had been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. In other cases, US copyright laws applies. for details, read the Wikipedia article.

Country-specific copyright legislation

Czech Republic

All Czech government publications are in the public domain. This notably affects Artia/Orbis/SNKLHU/Supraphon, which is a government organization since 1948. See the Czech Republic copyright act (file hosted by OSA, Czech author's rights organization).

England

The basic copyright has a duration of life of the last surviving author +70 years. Anonymous editions enjoy a copyright of 70 years after publication, or if not published, 70 years after creation.

England has a special law regarding "typographical arrangement" ("typographical arrangement" essentially means re-engraving). A "typographical arrangement" is only copyrighted for the length of publication + 25 years.[1] This would affect many of the originally German publishers who relocated to England (ex. Eulenburg).

France

The basic copyright has a duration of life of the last surviving author +70 years. Anonymous editions enjoy a copyright of 70 years after publication, or if not published, 70 years after creation. There are wartime extensions that increase the term by nearly 15 years. (8 years and 120 days for works published before 01/01/1948 plus 6 years and 152 days for works published before 12/30/1920.) There is also 30 extra years for authors who 'died in action' (like Jehan Alain). [2], [3]

Germany

The basic copyright has a duration of life of the last surviving author +70 years. Anonymous editions enjoy a copyright of 70 years after publication, or if not published, 70 years after creation. Posthumous first-time publications are protected for only 25 years after publication.

As per Article 70 of the German Urheberrechtsgesetz (copyright law), scientific editions, which is to say editions which are produced as a result of scientific analysis (i.e. scholarly or critical editions and urtext), have a copyright length of only publication + 25 years, meaning that all scientific editions published in Germany before 1982 are in the public domain there, and also in Canada via the Rule of the Shorter Term. This would mean a lot (if not all) of Bärenreiter's and Henle's pre-1982 publications. However, arrangements, transcriptions and orchestrations apparently enjoy a full term of protection of life-plus-70 years.

Portugal

Portugal's basic copyright term is only 50 years after death of the last surviving author (even in the case of posthumously published works), or 50 years after publication if no author is identified. Portuguese copyright law reserves a separate article for Translation, arrangement, instrumentation, dramatization, filming and, in general, any transformation of a work but does not clearly specify a copyright protection for these works. (Law text at WIPO)

Russia / USSR

The present Russian copyright law is extremely complicated. (WP). Basically, works of authors who died before 1953 are in public domain, whereas authors died 1953 or later are protected for 70 years. The law of Tzarist Russia was very similar to that of Germany, where works were granted a copyright term of life plus 50 years. However, Russia was not a signatory to the Berne Copyright Treaty (1888) and works of Russian composers were protected in Europe only via co-publication agreements between Russian publishers like Jurgenson and Bessel with firms in the West like D. Rahter, Bote & Bock, and Breitkopf & Härtel.

With the communist revolution of 1917, this situation changed drastically. Individual copyright was abolished along with all other forms of property ownership. This change was disasterous for the copyright status of Russian composers - even those living in the West like Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, and Stravinsky. Since all works - whether Soviet or foreign - effectively became the property of the state in the USSR, all Soviet works were held to be public domain in Western countries, even those of expatriate Soviet citizens. In order to comply with treaties to secure Western copyright status for works of Soviet authors, the Soviet goverment finally introduced a limited term of publication plus 15 years in the 1930s. However, the Soviet state (USSR) completely controlled publication of all works of living or deceased persons on which the state acclaimed copyright. Although the original works of Soviet composers have been given copyright status thanks to treaties, the editions of older works issued by Muzika, the Soviet state music publishing agency, seem to be in the public domain, as they were prepared by state employees working for a government agency, and the copyright owner (the USSR) has ceased to exist.

USA copyright law

Works published before 1923

Basically, all works published before 1923 are in the public domain in the US. At present, except for a bizarre ruling from the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that affects only the western states, any work published before 1923 is public domain in the US, regardless of where it was first published.

Reference: Cornell University's copyright center, though there are more.

Works published between 1923 and 1963

In the U.S., works of US authors and proprietors that are published in 1923-1963 are in the public domain if the copyright is not renewed or if the work was published without a proper copyright notice. Currently, the only way to ascertain renewal status is to conduct a formal search of the US Copyright Office records. Foreign works from this period that were formerly public domain have been restored to copyright status due to the provisions of the GATT/TRIPS amendments (effective Jan. 1, 1996) provided the work in question was not already public domain in its country of origin.

You have to search records at the US copyright office. This database indexes only records from 1978. Non-music records from 1950-1977 are indexed at Project Gutenberg.

US Government Publications

All US government publications are in the public domain.

Composers who will enter the public domain in the next few years

  • 2008
    • Countries with terms of life-plus-70 (EU and most of Europe)
      • Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
      • George Gershwin (1898-1937)
      • Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
      • Charles-Marie Widor (1840-1937)
      • Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
    • Countries with terms of life-plus-50 (Canada, China, Japan, S. Korea, etc.)
      • Józef Hofmann (1876-1957)
      • Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
      • Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
      • Eric Coates (1886-1957)
  • 2009
    • Countries with terms of life-plus-70 (EU and most of Europe)
      • Ben Harney (1871-1938)
    • Countries with terms of life-plus-50 (Canada, China, Japan, S. Korea, etc.)
      • Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
      • W.C. Handy (1873-1958)
  • 2010
    • Countries with terms of life-plus-70 (EU and most of Europe)
      • Franz Schmidt (1874-1939)
    • Countries with terms of life-plus-50 (Canada, China, Japan, S. Korea, etc.)
      • Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)
      • Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)
      • Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)

More information