How do I report plagiarism / copyright violation?

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LadyIslay
Posts: 16
Joined: 12 Dec 2007 20:05

How do I report plagiarism / copyright violation?

Post by LadyIslay »

Hello!

Not that I want to be a 'rat', but I've just discovered an arrangement of a Christmas carol posted here that is a complete rip-off of a Rutter arrangement. The voicing is the same and the distinctive descant is identical.

How do I go about reporting this to have the link removed from the site?
bobnotts
Site Admin
Posts: 982
Joined: 11 Mar 2006 19:05
Location: UK

Post by bobnotts »

Thank you very much for alerting us to this copyright violation. If you would like to send me a private message or email with the details I will make sure the situation is dealt with appropriately. My email address is robertnottingham6 AT hotmail DOT com

Regards

Rob
Site Admin
acleach
Posts: 1
Joined: 12 Dec 2007 23:20

Post by acleach »

While we're about it, all the scores of Stainer's Crucifixion which do not use exclusively biblical texts are likely to infringe copyright because -- perhaps surprisingly -- his librettist W J Sparrow-Simpson only died in 1952. His estate will still get royalties from the sale of published scores.

Andrew
mjolnir
Moderator
Posts: 254
Joined: 12 Sep 2005 14:39

Post by mjolnir »

acleach wrote:While we're about it, all the scores of Stainer's Crucifixion which do not use exclusively biblical texts are likely to infringe copyright because -- perhaps surprisingly -- his librettist W J Sparrow-Simpson only died in 1952. His estate will still get royalties from the sale of published scores.
In the US, Stainer's Crucifixion, including both music and libretto, are in the public domain because the music was published under US copyright prior to 1923, at which time copyright was for 28 years with a renewal period of the same duration. The CPDL servers are in the US, so US copyright law applies. It would be appropriate, however, to note for the benefit of users in the UK or other jurisdictions using the "death + 70" method of copyright determination, to advise that the score may be subject to copyright in those jurisdictions.

ns
IdZ
Posts: 7
Joined: 23 Jun 2006 21:08

Post by IdZ »

Wasn't this 'problem' the reason why Universal Edition asked IMSLP to build in a filter that would prohibit all others than Canadian (50+) and (in this case also) US inhabitants to download this file?

I'm not sure that in this case it's an excuse to say that the work is re-typeset... Of course, I may be wrong.

Fall and rise of IMSLP
mjolnir
Moderator
Posts: 254
Joined: 12 Sep 2005 14:39

Post by mjolnir »

There are certainly similarities, to the cause that UE brought against IMSLP, but there are also differences. Of perhaps the largest consequence is that in UE was concerned about instrumental works, where sales are in the tens or low hundreds, while Crucifixion is a choral work, and sales are in thousands. Also, UE was dealing with a situation where they were the sole publisher, while in the case of Crucifixion, CPDL is but one source among many from which the score might be available.

It is really not my decision to make how to deal with the situation at this moment; in my opinion, at the moment, the proper course is to post a warning on the score page that the publication is subject to copyright in some jurisdictions, and to warn users to determine for themselves the legality of using a score downloaded from CPDL, and to defer consideration of any further action until a request for action is made by the estate.

ns
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