IMSLP Forums

Can somebody please tell me why it is not possible for a simple flag to be set ( 0 = not available & 1 = available ) on initial placement of a score in the database so that large amounts of time are not spent (time spent * number of users) trying to access items which the database already knows are not available because copyright issues have not been resolved?

Hi Alleagra,

please excuse the juvenile response from Perlnerd! If he has an excuse, it may be that this question does get asked rather often.

The initial status of scores uploaded is by default "unavailable" - and the copyright team is fairly well distributed in terms of time zones, so that new scores can be assessed reasonably quickly. Thus works that haven't been checked will have a mark of next to the link, meaning the work is blocked until that review takes place; works which have been assessed but are protected by copyright in Canada/US and lack permission to be freely downloaded will have a mark of [TB]. This differs from the situation of websites such as ... "U" Tube, where there is a quite a lot of copyright infringing content uploaded that frequently goes unchecked until a complaint is lodged.

The upshot is, IMSLP doesn't run as a "free for all". (It isn't uncommon for novice uploaders to assume that any and all sheet music can be copied to the site as though copyright law didn't exist.)

Regards, Philip

EDIT:
Yes, yes, yes...sorry, it gets asked a lot.......

perlnerd666 wrote:EDIT:
Yes, yes, yes...sorry, it gets asked a lot.......

I think I might have been one who asked about this long ago, at least as regards the "Recent Additions" panel on the main IMSLP page. Moi, it's rather a waste of time to click from that panel if the new files associated are still in "" status -- besides, doing so artificially inflates the "access" statistics for that work-page.

Actually, new uploads are quickly reviewed for the most part. There haven't been long lists of 50-plus titles awaiting review for quite some time now. It's rare for something to remain unreviewed for more than 4 hours. This depends to a degree on how heavy the rate of new uploads is. Right now, we aren't having any problems with up to 150 files a day. The "Recent Additions" column is a pretty short one, so things can roll off the end before you even know they are there.

Thanks to all who've responded on this! I now appreciate that matters are never as easy to resolve as they appear at the outset. I don't doubt I could have deduced the truth of this if I'd pored through the forum carefully. Sometimes however life is too short (perlnerd666) and other obligations cut in.

OT, may I take an opportunity here to say that I regard IMSLP as one of the most wonderful things to emerge on the internet. As an amateur pianist it has enhanced the quality of my life immeasureably and I am indebted to those many across the world who've contributed to this project. Bearing in mind that many scores have been for all practical purposes beyond the reach of any but those with time and money to track them down, this is a real treasure.