October - 2003

Project Gutenberg is amongst other things a repository for public domain tests and a virtual library. Are you looking for the full text of Shakespeare’s plays? They are there and you can import them into your favourite desk top publishing program and create your own scholarly edition, with all of your annotations and explanations. How about Wuthering Heights? The complete works of Shelley? The text of Frankenstein? They are all there. Ready for you to download and do with as you will.

I hear you saying, “That must be great for literature teachers - but what does this have to do with me? I teach music? Where is the music of Dufay, Mozart, Bach? Where do we go for public domain files to assist us in our teaching? How can we create customised scores for study or performance? Where is the Project Guido for musicians?

Unfortunately, there is no one central source for musicians. You are probably the best source for materials as your library of recorded music is probably larger than your schools. Likewise, your collection of scores/octavos is a good starting point.

Do you wish to make a compilation CD to make your travels backwards and forwards to school easier? Chances are you are allowed to make a single copy of materials you already own for use in the classroom. If we loosely define your precious cds as software, in most localities you are allowed to make a digital copy for your own personal use, not for redistribution. In the US, there is an accepted doctrine called “fair use” that has ramifications for us all. It is a listing with some details of how much of a study score can be duplicated, duplication of sound recordings.

Stanford University Libraries http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter7/7-b.html#1

Of course, the rules may well be different in your country. Copyright in music is a much broader area than in the publishing industry. Recorded music has a different set of guidelines and regulations than printed music. Copyright exists not only in the written music, the scores, but the performance of the music. It would not do you any harm to look up all of the relevant laws for the country in which your school is located. If you have a school librarian, speak with them as they are probably aware of the local rules and regulations. Here are some useful links you may wish to peruse:

Copyright - US Copyright Office	http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html
Copyright - International Copyright Relations of the United States	http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ38a.pdf
World Intellectual Property Organization	http://www.wipo.org/
Public Domain MP3 Classic blues performances.	http://www.publicdomain4u.com
he Choral Public Domain LibrarySelf notated versions of a wide variety of music	http://www.cpdl.org/

We haven’t looked at the MIDI reproduction of public domain works. Go to Google and search for the composer or the title of the piece you are looking for- chances are, someone has already posted a MIDI file of the piece you are looking for. The only formal advice I can give you is to check and check again. The only advice you can believe is that of a good copyright lawyer.