IMSLP Forums

Hi,

Long time member, almost new in posting.

I'm very much in favor of 'free education' (as in freeware, or open source in software) and I was thinking of working some 'tutorials', or 'articles' on composing, harmony, etc. (I hold a PhD in composition, btw).

So my question.

I will be using examples. Most from PD, or my own, but still I may need to use some small examples from composers whose works are still copyrighted!

The articles will be free to the public (or donationware, anyways), so non commercial. The amount used (score) will be tiny really (for example 5 bars from Messiaen Quator pour la fin du tump. I mean this is something like 1% in the so many bars and length of the whole work), and I would be doing my own recordings for each case (so no (P) would be affected).

Does this fall, clearly under fair use of copyright?

The readings I've done indicate that:
a. not commercial
b. For educational purposes
c. (very) small amount of the original work
seem to go towards fair use.

Any ideas, examples, and the such, please?

An expert will surely be along to give authoritative guidance, but if you stick to what you describe the chances of anyone suing you are low to non-existent. They'd look so daft, the newspapers would take them to pieces, and you'd end up a folk hero. Indeed, it would be excellent publicity for your tutorials!

Your tiny example would probably fall under fair use in the USA. I can't say what the situation would be in other countries. It would probably be a good idea to talk with a copyright attorney familiar with fair use before proceeding, however.