IMSLP Forums

Hello!
Sorry for my bad English.
I'm young composer and joined IMSLP to publicate my works. I'm not "grand composer" and I'd like that people could download my scores free, not for money. I was born in 1994, that's why I can't give my works the status "Public Domain". How can I do it? Thanks.
Ivan.

In most jurisdictions a work achieves the "public domain" status after a certain number of years after the death of the author only. There is no way to anticipate the term.

However, the author can release the work under license conditions that may be substantially equivalent to the "public domain" status, i.e., that allow anybody to do whatever they like with the work in subject (copy, modify, perform, broadcast, and whatever else).

For works published on IMSLP by the author, the license policy that is the most similar to the "public domain" status is the Creative Commons - Attribution (CC - BY) license. So, if you wish to release a work under "public domain-alike" conditions, you should select this type of license when uploading the score to IMSLP.

Please be aware that, if you are associated to a copyright collection society, you may not be allowed to give up some rights, such as performing rights. For these cases the corresponding Performance Restricted - Attribution (PR-BY) license may be suitable.

Max

Thank you very much. I don't understand all but I understood what category of license I should choose, and I see that my uploaded works now are free to download! (Earlier I myself couldn't download my own works!) Thank you very much!
Ivan.

All of the licenses offered here - even the most restrictive one - allow for free download. The restrictions have to do with

a) commercial use;
b) derivative works (arrangements - someone else arranging or including your piece in their creation, like Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition);
c) performance restrictions (live and proadcast).