IMSLP Forums

I believe that you need to look at the librettist as well as the composer. All 4 songs are marked as public domain in Canada, but only the 4th should be - something I didn't actually realize myself until I noticed the dates for Hermann Hesse.

http://imslp.org/wiki/4_Letzte_Lieder_( ... ,_Richard)

Librettist No.1, 2, 3: Hermann Hesse (1877-1962)
No.4: Joseph von Eichendorff (1788-1857)

I did a search on Hesse, and found one other score that uses text by him, It's coded !N/!N/!N with no mention of permission to use the text:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Zur_Trauung,_Op.6 ... ch,_Ernst)

Amazing...how did that happen? The files have been retagged; since it's only 3 years, I doubt they'll be removed from the site in any case (seeing as they're inaccessible).
As for the Fuchs-Schönbach, since the estate has given permission to publish the work on IMSLP, they surely must also have gotten permission from Hesse's estate.

It is a point I have made numerous times. Unfortunately it's quite common for details of librettists or translators not to be fully checked out - the corresponding page in the Wiki is still vastly underrepresented compared to the page for arrangers and orchestrators. Still, the number of infractions committed by the copyright review team, given that three separate legal domains have to be assessed, is fairly small.

http://imslp.org/wiki/Writers,_Lyricist ... ranslators

That said, the issue cuts both ways: I regularly refrain from using copyrighted texts, or if necessary write my own lyrics, deliberately to avoid issues of obtaining permission; the bogey of having permission denied by the writer or the copyright owner has become something of a reality. You don't need to look very hard to find examples of musical works being suppressed or abandoned because of copyright issues over the lyrics.

That one slipped by me, too. You are quite correct. The Canadian term is for 50 years after the death of the last surviving author. They will not enter the Canadian public domain until January 1, 2013. Arrangers, Librettists, Translators, Editors all need to have dates whenever possible. The only country on earth who still has a publication-date based system is the USA (even then only for works first published before 1978). The rest of the world's copyright terms are based on the lifetime of the last surviving author or contributor.

KGill wrote:Amazing...how did that happen? The files have been retagged; since it's only 3 years, I doubt they'll be removed from the site in any case (seeing as they're inaccessible).
As for the Fuchs-Schönbach, since the estate has given permission to publish the work on IMSLP, they surely must also have gotten permission from Hesse's estate.

Has this question been asked, or is it just assumed? If there is permission, it should be noted; if there is not, that one song is not public domain yet anywhere. I would not assume they even realized permission was needed - in my experience as a librarian for several different choirs, I have noticed the people often are not aware that they need to think of the copyright in the text as well as the music.

Thanks for the correction on the Strauss.

Part of the blame is also mine since I believe I uploaded some of these. And we do our best to research copyrights for each file we upload, just that occasionally we make mistakes and overlook certain details. We are therefore glad to have other users look over our shoulders and make sure we get it right