IMSLP Forums

Are there any files on IMSLP (that aren't blocked) that are illegal in Australia? I don't know of a file, or a situation.

Hi Yagan,

you'll recall the previous regime here signed into law the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and which took effect on 1 January 2006, one of the conditions of which was to extend the copyright term of 50 years post mortem auctoris to 70 years.

Thus we are in the position that as a result of the 20 years' extension, no works will naturally enter the public domain in Australia until 1 January 2027; if a composer died in 1955 his or her works entered the public domain at the end of 2005; composers that died in 1956 are entitled to protection until 31 December 2026.

So the difference between Canadian and Australian copyrights effects those who died in 1956 or later, which includes Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, and Schmitt, amongst others.

PML

Yes I know. (And what a democracy we have............)

But considering the Canadian files are currently blocked and Special US PD files (Stravinsky) aren't on IMSLP, I can't think of a reason why any file on IMSLP would be still in Copyright in Australia.

The main problem with IMSLP on DVD is probably the fact that it would take a very huge amount of DVDs to fit all the files on. Currently I believe the size is at ~80GB, growing by 1GB per week.

17 DVDs are required to hold the collection.

It is, however, an academic matter since there are not enough orders to meet the minimum for duplication.

If there are no objections, you could try announcing it on the main site. It would likely reach much more people than here on the forums.

Please disregard my post above. Somehow I ended up replying to only the second page without having read the first.

But now that I have, I fully support such a backup and think it a wonderful idea. Perhaps someday we can set up a IMSLP store that has such things and other items (IMSLP t-shirt!). That'd be fun

Perhaps it would be better not to include the Creative Commons files? Although we have no legal obligation to let the copyright owners know of this it is almost rude not to, and that's a lot of work to do. Plus it frees up a couple of things:

University libraries are happy to pay a bit of money (hell, mine spends thousands every year subscribing to obscure and unused 'scholarly' sites). If we don't have creative commons (specifically the 'non-commercial' licenses), the DVDs could be sold for a bit more money with he excess going as a donation to IMSLP (I wouldn't object to Johann taking a compensation slice as he has put in the work but that for another discussion).

Selling to individuals could 'donate' a smaller amount - $10 or something (I don't know, making up the price).

The t-shirt could come with a tongue twister involving IMSLP's name.

Interestingly, my university is giving a lecture to honours students about IMSLP next week, and everyone is referring to IMSLP as "Petrucci Project". Given this, would it be prudent to officially adopt 'Petrucci Music Library' soon rather than the half half approach?

Given that many, many people think of MP3s when they hear the word "music," it might be more prudent to refer to the Petrucci project as a music score project (especially if "IMSLP" might be discarded).

I think IMSLP will eventuate as our 'slogan' like Wikipedia's 'The Free Encyclopaedia'.

That said, Petrucci Music Score Library is starting to sound like IMSLP again. Anyway, wrong thread.

So, have you given up on this without ever attempting to advertise it on the main site?

The only order I have is from someone who is not a regular contributor. Not a single person who has posted on this thread has sent an order. Anyone who wishes to publicize the DVD set further is of course welcome to do so, but I have chosen not to do this myself. One set of masters is resting quietly in a bank vault. There are others. I shall remain content with that, for the time being.

Yagan Kiely wrote:Perhaps it would be better not to include the Creative Commons files? Although we have no legal obligation to let the copyright owners know of this it is almost rude not to, and that's a lot of work to do. Plus it frees up a couple of things:

University libraries are happy to pay a bit of money (hell, mine spends thousands every year subscribing to obscure and unused 'scholarly' sites). If we don't have creative commons (specifically the 'non-commercial' licenses), the DVDs could be sold for a bit more money with he excess going as a donation to IMSLP (I wouldn't object to Johann taking a compensation slice as he has put in the work but that for another discussion).

Selling to individuals could 'donate' a smaller amount - $10 or something (I don't know, making up the price).

The t-shirt could come with a tongue twister involving IMSLP's name.

Interestingly, my university is giving a lecture to honours students about IMSLP next week, and everyone is referring to IMSLP as "Petrucci Project". Given this, would it be prudent to officially adopt 'Petrucci Music Library' soon rather than the half half approach?

Given the speed of changes in IMSLP, and the large download volumes, perhaps the best way to let universities share IMSLP resources is to somehow make IMSLP a member of the inter-collegiate network, thus allowing fast transfer without extra costs to the universities (they have already paid a fixed-fee for access to the inter-collegiate network)