tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37410272677451559932011-04-21T20:24:07.650-07:00Kevin Stephenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12050227344536519592noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741027267745155993.post-86419736446708579882007-11-10T03:33:00.000-08:002007-11-10T03:56:11.596-08:00Has the music industry got a collective death wish? Its efforts to try to protect its copyrights - the industry's main source of wealth - are taking increasingly bizarre turns.<br />A Canadian student, Xiao-Guang Guo, set up a website called the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) which carried pdf versions of musical scores, the majority out of copyright or in public domain. But copyright laws vary from country to country, so printed music which is out of copyright in Canada (where the term is death + 50 years) may well still be in copyright in other places, for example the EU where the term is death + 70 years. The worst case is Mexico where a recent law has set the term at death + 100 years. The most complicated is the USA where repeated changes over the years have left a mish-mash of conflicting copyrights, but broadly it's death + 70 years.<br />Working on the wiki principle, that users of the site were able to contribute to it, IMSLP rapidly built up a fabulous collection of thousands of scores, available to view online or to print out according to need. If there was any potential copyright conflict then the site responsibly warned about it, typically saying that "whilst this score is public domain in Canada it may not be in the EU and other countries with death + 70 years." <br />The Austrian music publishers Universal Edition noted that some of its scores were available on the site and issued Xiao-Guang Guo with two "cease and desist" letters. As he didn't have the time or resources to fight any case Guo closed down the whole site.<br />UE protested that they didn't intend the whole site to be closed. merely that their copyright music was either removed or some kind of filter imposed so that such scores could not be downloaded in countries where they were not public domain.<br /><br />Many young composers had put their music scores on IMSLP as a means of promoting their music. Perhaps if UE had seen the potential of this approach it may have thought twice. After all, what damage will be done to its trade around the world by people having access to a few scores online? The quality is not high enough for performance use, pages are often wonky in the scanner, and the thought of printing out 50 or more pages on a home printer, then binding them so they can be used for performance is enough to send any performer racing to the music shop to buy a proper printed copy. The main use of the online scores was for study and consultation, much as one might do in a library. So now the students and scholars who might have used the site in that way simply go to their local or university library where they can inspect and borrow the scores for free. If this doesn't bother UE why should the online version bother them?<br />UE’s lawyers curiously mentioned amongst others the works of Mahler (d. 1918), Berg (d. 1935) and Janacek (d. 1928). If internet filters are to be used to block these works from downloading or printing in the EU then such filters will have to take account of Mexico as well. And a filter to cover the USA would be horrendously complex.<br />The howls of outrage from users of the site prompted many users to suggest ways forward. Carolus thought that UE could have assisted Guo to construct appropriate filters and that UE and other publishers could have used the site to promote its younger composers. UE has bought itself a lot of bad press and bad feeling, and I suspect that the difference to its bottom line will be marginal. Guo is looking for another host to take over the site and deal with the copyright complecities and users are hoping that IMSLP will be back online next year.<br />Meanwhile UE has the problem of extracting its foot from its mouth and trying to recover some of its former prestige in the eyes of music users.<br />Kevin Stephens<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3741027267745155993-8641973644670857988?l=ksonmusic.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Kevin Stephenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12050227344536519592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3741027267745155993.post-7466606478162481482007-11-01T06:51:00.000-07:002007-11-01T06:53:57.977-07:00The music industry seems to be in trouble, but music itself has rarely been more interesting and healthy. I want to explore this distinction between industry and creativity and explore why the industry itself is sometimes its own worst enemy. Maybe in future there won't be such a thing as a recognised industry - musicians will find ways round it to be able to do their own thing. Always aided by the internet and new technology.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3741027267745155993-746660647816248148?l=ksonmusic.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Kevin Stephenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12050227344536519592noreply@blogger.com0