IMSLP Forums

I have recently added Harry Drew's Magnificat to IMSLP, the source being a manuscript (ca. 1872) found in the archive of Balliol College, Oxford.
I have done scrupulous work on this, using music software to produce from this pdf files of (a) a transcription of this score in modern notation, with an introduction, (b) a set of orchestral parts prepared for performance and (c) a vocal score (piano and voices).
Can I upload these into IMSLP alongside the said manuscript?
It may be significant that I am Harry Drew's great-grandson, and eldest living male heir.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Absolutely. A work of this nature basically is treated 2 different ways, depending upon territory.

1. Under Canada's law, an unpublished work of a composer dead over 50 years is entitled to protection only if it was "unperformed, unrecorded, or undelivered" until less than 50 years ago. Canada's 50-year posthumous publication clock starts running whenever any of these events take place.

2. Under USA law, all unpublished works of composers dead more than 70 years entered the US public domain on January 1, 2003. The unpublished Magnificat entered the US public domain on that date.

3. In the EU, an unpublished work is entitled to a copyright of 25 years from the date of publication under the concept of editio princeps. Since you're the principal heir, you would control any right of publication associated with the piece in the EU. Note that under a recent EU court ruling about a Vivaldi opera, it appears the "delivery" standard applies at least partially (in Germany).

This all refers to the work itself. (public domain in Canada and UDA, possibly protected for 25 years from publication in EU.) Your edition is eligible for copyright in nearly all countries worldwide. You are also naturally free to upload it here under a Creative Commons license, as a "typeset"

Thank you for the time and care tajen in your invaluable most informative reply. Much appreciated,