Prokofiev legal threat

[Eric]

the question is whether they were published, not just written, before 1923, and the answer is yes but not I think many. However, even his piano sonata no.1 op.1 was first published in 1912, I think, so it should be PD-CA and PD-US (assuming we have the first edition on the page and if not wthn?), and the fact that the page is blocked everywhere basically says "someone is threatening to sue us for a lot."

Edit: violin concerto no.1 op.19 was published in 1921 (and reprinted by Dover in 2013, but maybe they had permission from Boosey, which may consider itself the new copyright owner. However, listings of the Dover edition @ Worldcat say "2013. ©1921". Ah well. Maybe the rules have changed. And explanations of the 1922/3 rule online suggest that it's an iterative renewals-running-out sort of thing rather than something that was explicitly written into law in one exact place, which makes it yet more complicated. Bother!...)

[Eric]

Yes, I see this comment in their letter " that provide up to 70 years of protection after the death of the author (and sometimes more because of the of wartime prolongations)" but this should be overridden by the 1922 law (first US publication before 1923) - though Wikipedia, etc. while acknowledging the existence of both, seems to disagree about which one has precedence...

[Choralia]

Please note that Prokofiev scores remain available on the regional servers operated by Project Leonardo Limited, i.e., the NZ company, not affiliated with Project Petrucci LLC, that provides services for particular regions where specific copyright rules apply.

Project Leonardo Limited operates the following regional servers:

PML-CA
IMSLP-ASIA
IMSLP-EU

All servers include very basic functions to search files based on their filename. Please look for the statement "click here for basic search functions" on the home page:

click_here.gif (26.88 KiB) Viewed 41674 times

Prokofiev scores are available on PML-CA and on IMSLP-ASIA, as these servers are located in Canada and in Hong Kong respectively, and Prokofiev is definitely public domain there.

Users are anyway required to respect the copyright laws of their country (e.g., ensure that fair use provisions or similar copyright exceptions are fulfilled if Prokofiev is not public domain in that country).

Max

[cynstacy]

FYI - Schirmer doesn't control Prokofiev 1. Boosey does...

[Eric]

which "1" are you speaking of? The piano sonata Op.1, the piano concerto Op.10, the violin sonata Op.80, the violin concerto Op.19, the classical symphony = symphony no.1 (usually called by its nickname Classical Symphony or similar, so I expect this is _not_ what you are referring to), the string quartet no.1 Op.50, the Cinderella Suite no.1 for that matter, ...? Prokofiev 1 is extremely ambiguous (though the earlier ones are more likely). Boosey may think it owns Op.19 too (though it was published as early as 1921 so that is unlikely.)

[coulonnus]

Will the heirs of all composers died between 1948 and 1967 eventually adhere to the same legal threat?

Are other sites offering Prokofiev scores e.g. Sibley or Hathitrust immune to such legal threats ?

Then perhaps the http://www.petruccilibrary.ca/ site should change its name into one that does not contain Petrucci or imslp and the imslp Prokofiev page should say: his works are under copyright etc. instead of listing his works and say: try this Canadian Petrucci site, Sibley, Hathitrust etc.

[Sallen112]

I've gotten word that Prokofiev's composer page should be back online soon...

[daphnis]

All work pages remain disabled. What is the current status of these proceedings?

[Sallen112]

don't know when, I was just told sometime soon, maybe within the coming month?

[TheGrassGuy]

I've gotten word that Prokofiev's composer page should be back online soon...

Prokofiev's composer page works fine for me. The only pages that are disabled are the actual work pages.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but the disclaimer on IMSLP-EU and CA says that IMSLP and Petrucci will not be responsible for any legal issues if you download files that are not PD in your country, right?

[Sallen112]

Yes thats all correct.

[coulonnus]

The trouble is that in the view of the lawyer of Prokofiev's heirs, imslp is responsible if you download files that are not PD in your country.

[TheGrassGuy]

I've gotten word that Prokofiev's composer page should be back online soon...

The composer page has always worked fine for me. Only the pieces are disabled. What do you mean by "back online"?

[TheGrassGuy]

About the buxtehude page, isn't there some way to remove the Prokofiev arrangement completely? That way, the rest of the page can be unblocked.

[Eric]

wondered the same thing. removing and purging (or something) so that they have no great reason to suppose we'll just undelete it furtively later or something.