IMSLP Forums

Probably a stupid question, but can someone legally prepare and publish a new/critical edition (based on the original manuscript) of a work that is currently copyright (either universally or only in some countries)? Does the fact that the new score would contain alternative and/or corrected material invalidate accusations of infringement of copyright? Is it necessary to know exactly where the old edition is copyright and where the new one would be published/distributed?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Florio

I don't think this is a stupid question at all. I also don't know the answer for sure, but there is some sites, like the WIMA ( http://icking-music-archive.org/ByComposer.php ), which don't use any scanned pdf files. They type every score, so they are the owner of the editions. I think it is quite easy to avoid the allegation of copying some previous edition. This is why we have so many stupid marks on Bach's score in every different edition, for instance, like some legatos or staccatos, and they vary very much from edition to edition. I don't know how different to a copyrighted edition your own edition should be in order to avoid a process.

If someone knows more about this discussion, please reply. This is very interesting subject, I think.

There are two scenarios with different answers:

First, if the work is still under copyright (e.g. 70 year rule), no new edition can be published without the written consent of the owners of the copyright (publishers or the heirs of the composer). See for example the solo part of the Martinu Oboe concerto, which contained dozens of wrong notes. Nobody could publish a corrected version for decades (although there was a listing of these errors in the Journal of the Doublereed Society) until the original publishers (Eschig) released one last year.

Second, if the work itself is not under copyright anymore, a new critical edition can be published, even if the copyright of another printed edition has not passed into the public domain yet. However, here in Germany you need the permission of the owner of the original manuscript to publish a printed edition, and a library may then ask for a fee.
However, I am not sure what the legal situation is if both editions are essentially identical.