When does music enter the public domain, and how can I make it available to the Net?

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

In an earlier thread about classical guitar music, I recommended Lodovico Roncalli’s 1692 work, Capricci Armonici Sopra la Gitarra Espagnola to somebody, and I scanned a couple of pages and emailed them to him. This music was first presented in modern notation in 1883 by Oscar Chilesotti, and the copy I was using was an East German edition published in 1953 by a state-owned publishing house.

So, a couple of questions: First, would a 1953 East German music publication be in the public domain by this time? If not, how could I possibly find out who holds the copyright? And second, if it is in the public domain, how can I make it available to the world without running my own website? I’ve always thought it a great shame that complete copies of this music are so hard to come by, and that it would be a public service to put it on the INternet.

[Walloon]

If the 1953 music is just a reprint of the 1883 notation with no substantive difference, I would not worry about reproducing it. You may want to remove the name of the 1953 publisher, just to be on the safe side.

[Eonwe]

There are a few places online that archive public domain sheet music that might be interested in scans you have:

sheetmusicarchive.net
mutopiaproject.org

[kellner]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

So, a couple of questions: First, would a 1953 East German music publication be in the public domain by this time?

This will depend on how your jurisdiction handles foreign copyrights. In Germany, that edition (not the original notes) it is still protected. However this doesn’t necessarily mean that this applies to you. I don’t know the US law on that, but other German material that is still protected here is openly available as public domain in the US if it lost its protection there at some point. (e.g. Fritz Lang’s “M” on archive.org)

If not, how could I possibly find out who holds the copyright?

Can you post the name of the publisher? If it was a regular state-owned corporation, it was probably privatized in some form, but some were just closed. It’s hard to tell in general how easily you can find the successor.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@kellner

This will depend on how your jurisdiction handles foreign copyrights. In Germany, that edition (not the original notes) it is still protected. However this doesn’t necessarily mean that this applies to you. I don’t know the US law on that, but other German material that is still protected here is openly available as public domain in the US if it lost its protection there at some point. (e.g. Fritz Lang’s “M” on archive.org)

This sounds like I should be safe, then, as long as I omit the German introductory text and performance notes, and possibly I’d be safe without even having to do that.

Can you post the name of the publisher? If it was a regular state-owned corporation, it was probably privatized in some form, but some were just closed. It’s hard to tell in general how easily you can find the successor.

I will try to make it back with that info tomorrow. All I remember is that it was “VEB something” (for non-German speakers reading this, that means “Publicly Owned Enterprise” and was common in old East Germany).

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

I will try to make it back with that info tomorrow. All I remember is that it was “VEB something” (for non-German speakers reading this, that means “Publicly Owned Enterprise” and was common in old East Germany).

Title page:

ALTE MUSIK FUER GITARRE

Lodovico Roncalli

(1692)

NEUN SUITEN

Herausgegeben von Bruno Henze

VEB FRIEDRICH HOFMEISTER

Back of title page:
Bestell-Nr. T-4068
Copyright 1955 by VEB Friedrich Hofmeister, Musikverlag Leipzig
Lizenz-Nr. 484-250 / 582 /67
Umschlag-Entwurf: Paul Helmut Becker