Public Domain Works in Dispute

Many symphonies play mostly pieces that are a part of the public domain. There are several ways that a piece of music could qualify as part of the public domain. Those are:

1. If the work was published in the United States prior to 1923, it is in the public domain.

2. For works published between 1923 and March 1, 1989, it depends on whether the certain statutory formalities were observed, such as providing a notice of copyright on the work or renewing the copyright per statutory deadlines. Examples:

a) If the work was published in the United States between 1923 and 1978 without a notice, it is in the public domain. (Note: If the work published during this period has a notice, it is protected for 95 years from the date of publication.)
b) If the work was published in the United States between 1978 and March 1, 1989 without a notice and registration, it is in the public domain. (Note: If the work published during this period has a notice, but not a registration, it is protected for 70 years from the death of the author.)
c) If the work was published in the United States between 1923 and 1963 with a notice, but copyright was not renewed, it is in the public domain. For more information on renewals, see How to tell if copyright has been renewed.
3. After March 1, 1989, all works (published and unpublished) are protected for 70 years from the date the author dies. For works of corporate authorship (works made for hire), the copyright term is the shorter of 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation.

However, some works that were previously in the public domain are now facing the possibility of being copyrighted. The works in question are all foreign and were previously part of the public domain in the U.S., but were still copyrighted under international laws. In 1994, Congress adopted legislation to bring the U.S. in line with an international copyright treaty called the Berne Convention. Now, the Supreme Court is going to decide whether Congress has the right to remove works from the public domain.

Some of the works at issue include:

• H.G. Wells’ Things to Come
• Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
• The musical compositions of Igor Fydorovich Stravinsky

This decision by the Supreme Court could mean a lot for American Orchestras. These organizations are already burdened financially, and would be further harmed by having to pay more in royalties to perform these works. If the works of Stravinsky and other artists move back into the public domain, they would most likely be performed less frequently and fewer people would hear the works. The Supreme Court should not stifle the creative breadth of orchestras by moving more works out of public domain.



References:

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/copyright/publicdomain.html

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/03/supreme-court-recopyright/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+%28Wired:+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29