music law?

Question

could i record a piece of music that i play MYSELF and put it on the internet without doing any legal work? the composer died 101 years ago and i would NOT make any money from it...

Answer 1

Possibly, but not necessarily. First question: in what nation? Second, and most important question, if you're in the U.S. not whether you would make money from it, but rather whether the copyright has expired. If the composer died 101 years ago, the following rule applies:

Works Originally Created and Published or Registered before January 1, 1978
Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published with a copyright notice or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The Copyright Act of 1976 extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were subsisting on January 1, 1978, or for pre-1978 copyrights restored under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), making these works eligible for a total term of protection of 75 years. Public Law 105-298, enacted on October 27, 1998, further extended the renewal term of copyrights still subsisting on that date by an additional 20 years, providing for a renewal term of 67 years and a total term of protection of 95 years.

The question is, thus, what was registered, where, and when. If it's in the U.S., you're OK. Other countries have their own laws, and may extend protections beyond a total of 95 years.

Answer 2

101? Yes.

It doesn't matter whether you make money on it or not.

The composed died long enough ego that the copyright on that music has expired. It's currently life-of-the-author plus 70 years in the US, shorter in most other countries.

So, the music is public domain. You can create what's called a "derivative work" -- your own artistic creation based on that prior work, and you own the copyright for your creative work.

You can then do anything you want, including selling it, since you own the copyright. For YOUR version -- not on the original.

Answer 3

I think the copywrite would have expired after 101 years...but you better double check.