IMSLP Forums

imslp wrote:I've just woken up from what is fortunately a better night of sleep than I have had in the last week.

I was very touched to see the amount of support that IMSLP contributors and users are offering; it further solidifies my determination that the vision of IMSLP is not wrong, and that it needs to continue.

I have had intimate contact with another IMSLP contributor, for whose support in this matter I cannot thank enough. As a result, we are currently undergoing negotiations with various organizations in the interest of continuing IMSLP in some form.

The most important thing at the moment, and for which I would be very grateful for help, is to interest larger organizations in continuing or supporting IMSLP. Monetary concerns are minimal; however, support from large organizations is essential. Here I would like to thank the large amount of libraries and educational institutions who have offered support; I will respond as soon as possible.

Again, I greatly thank you all for all the support that you have shown towards IMSLP and me; it really means a great amount to me.

What is public domain will be free.

imslp wrote:I have received many private messages from IMSLP contributors and supporters, and I wanted first of all to thank you for all your advice and support.

I also wanted to apologize that I may not be able to respond very quickly, as I have received many many offers of support and advice that it will take me some time to respond to all of them. But rest assured; your message has been read, and I will do my best to respond as soon as possible.

Carolus wrote:I'll try to address some issues raised by Funper and others here.

While your points about the public domain status of these works in Canada are quite true, there are several others factors to take account of, among which are:

1. Canada's judicial system is generally very sympathetic to rulings issued by EU magistrates. Ironically, the USA is considerably more resistant (at least in places) to such meddling by judicial ideologues and corporatist cronies who like to impose their rules on people halfway around the world. Other countries with life-plus-50 terms, like South Korea, are not at all likely to abide by EU pontifications. IMSLP has a strong case, but it was by no means guaranteed that Canadian courts would be sympathetic.

2. The UE threat was probably just the leading edge for a series of legal threats from a consortium of large European publishers. IMSLP has been under discussion as a major threat in the newsletter of a EU publishers' asscoiation - which has been reported in the American Music Publishers Assocation newsletter. (Curiously, most US publishers are either unaware of IMSLP or don't care.)

3. IMSLP has grown so huge that its administration and management are really beyond the capabilities of a single person plus several trusty and reliable helpers. The time has really come for IMSLP to be re-constituted in a more institutional form, like Gutenberg or Wikipedia, or perhaps taken over by a consortium of music libraries.

4. Life-plus-70 is no guarantee. As you can see from the list, there are no less than four composers listed in the C & D letter who have been dead for over 70 years. This could have been sheer stupidity and arrogance on UE's part, or these composers could still be protected in Austria by some sort of special provision in that country's copyright law.

The majority of income for most music publishers (apart from those firms who specialize in public domain reprints) is derived from copyrighted works. I suspect that UE's major income streams are from performance and broadcast royalties generated by composers like Bartok, Richard Strauss, Arvo Pärt, etc. The sale of printed scores is fairly minimal, but still significant. The entire distribution network for selling printed music scores is very cumbersome and expensive - even more so than that for books. For example, if someone here wanted to take a decent-quality PDF from IMSLP, print copies of a score and offer it for sale on Amazon.com, they'd be in for a very rude awakening if they thought they could price the item for slightly more than the print cost. Amazon demands a 55% discount, with no shipping charges, from publishers who list their titles with them. That means if you price your score at $10.00, Amazon buys it for $4.50 and you pay the shipping to send it to their warehouse, not to mention all of the other expenses associated with simply staying in business. Amazon is not exactly fast about paying their bills, either. This is for one of the simplest and most direct distribution networks in existence. Large music retailers like Sheet Music Plus all demand the same high discounts and generous terms. This does not excuse UE's disgraceful behavior, mind you, but they may be acting partially out of desperation.

imslp wrote:Due to the request of an IMSLP admin, I'm going to give an update of the situation here on the forums (in addition to the main site; do check the main site every so often). Smile

Basically, negotiations are planned between an organization and me regarding the continuation of IMSLP. Another IMSLP contributor has already had contact with the organization regarding this matter, but I have yet to speak with the organization in person (this is scheduled to happen during the next week). I also have a few other routes and offers for help, and will try to combine them so that we have something good Smile

But no, IMSLP is not dead, and it will not be dead if I can help it.