IMSLP Forums

true or not true: a not professional orchestra in Belgium may play a concert using scores that were downloaded from IMSLP; that are in the free domain. A small intrance fee is asked from the audience.

Francis

If the work and the edition used is not under copyright-protection anymore (in Belgium),
than it would not make any difference at all, if it is a professional or an amateur group, or if admission is free or not.
It would also not make any difference, if only the conductors score or all the individual parts were copies.

Professional and even some amateur orchestras don't like to play from bad copies if a new edition can be purchased without breaking the orchestras budget, but legally they are not forced to play from a printed version.

Example 1:
The "Notenbibliothek" of the BDLO (association of german amateur orchestras): they supply copies of works out of copyright to their member orchestras for a small administrative charge, and these are used even in prominent concert halls like the Berlin Philharmonie.

Example 2:
Performances of not-standard repertoire even by professional orchestras may be from copies, if no original material is available anymore, for example from copies of the originial editions from the early 1800s.

There is no legal difference between these examples and a download from IMSLP!

You have only to be aware that there are some works available on IMSLP that are out of copyright in the US and in Canada, but still illegal to use in Europe!