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Musicologist Ross Duffin has recently published an article in The Musical Quarterly suggesting that O Canada, Canada's official anthem, was "constructed" by Calixa Lavallee from material by Mozart, Wagner, Liszt and Keller. I propose to submit to IMSLP an "arrangement" of O Canada that is entirely derived from these works. My question is this: can Duffin claim copyright for his suggestion? The article presents excerpts of O Canada with the suggested prior material in parallel, but the article does not have a "complete" version. BTW, O Canada itself is public domain.

The would probably be covered under the "Fair use" clause for excepts so you should be good.