When do the copyrights on a piece of music expire? For example when can I use bach for commercial purposes?

Answer 1

The copyrights expire 70 years after the original composer's death. Bach is public domain.

Answer 2

It depends on the country. In some cuntries in Europe it's 50 years after being published.

Some living rockers are kind of upset about this. The story was recently in the news.

Bach is public domain.

Answer 3

Bach is in public domain, so you can use it. However, if you're using a recording by somebody else, the artist owns the copyright on the performance itself.