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In the music library of my college I found an old Edition Peters score of Brahms's Piano Quartet in c minor, op.60. It was edited by Georg Schumann, and has plate number 10443 <3>. There is no copyright date on the volume or on Worldcat, and I have the reference and music librarians stumped. Does anyone know if this is in public domain, or how I can find out?

It's probably free - I suspect it was first issued around 1925, or perhaps along with the Brahms Gesammtausgabe in 1927. I'm fairly sure that Kalmus has reprinted it, too.

What do you mean by 'free'?

Public Domain.

Oh, I see. I was thinking of US rules.

Incidentally, though this is splitting hairs, is the actual act of scanning a score from a library in the US legal if the score is only PD in Canada? I thought making digital copies of books is restricted.

How could the reproduction of public domain material could be restricted ?

If published in 1925, the work isn't PD in the US.

Actually, the work most likely is public domain in the US. Though published after 1922, it was published sans copyright notice, which automatically injected the work into the public domain under US law in effect then. Because German law grants a term of only 25 years for Urtext editions of this nature, it was not eligible for restoration under the GATT/TRIPs amendments, which require a work to still be under copyright in its country of origin to be restored to copyright in the US.

Thanks! I'll try to find time to scan it.