Prokofiev Op. 29+ Public Domain?

[ottovanbigsnack]

I seem to be unable to access any works of Prokofiev after Piano Sonata 4, even though 50 years after his death (March 1953) has just passed (which is PD for Canada). Is it possible that the rest of the scores uploaded could be made available? The books of his sonatas are very expensive and I don't want to buy what is already PD in my country...

[steltz]

Serge Prokofiev is still protected by copyright in most countries, which is why only the works published before 1923 are unblocked on IMSLP - those are in the public domain in the United States. In Europe, Prokofiev's works are protected for 70 years after his death, so nothing will be available on the European server. If you live in Europe, it will be illegal to download the pre-1923 works. If you live in the US, you may legally download the pre-1923 works, but you will have to buy the later works.

[Melodia]

And FWIW, the 'rollover' into PD happens on the next calender year -- so even though he died in March, his music isn't PD in Canada until 2014 anyway.

[KGill]

... his music isn't PD in Canada until 2014 anyway.

This would be the case if he had died in 1963, but his Canadian copyright term actually expired on 1 Jan. 2004. I don't really know what OP was getting at when he said the 50-year period "has just passed".

[Melodia]

Yeah I realized that, and wondered how I missed that.