IMSLP is over

[toro913]

The whole issue with this site was that it had some works which were still copyrighted in the US, but the site is hosted in Canada, which has a smaller copyright term (life + 50). When does one country have to obey to another countries laws?

[Maciek]

For those interested, there's a lot of reading material about copyright law re the IMSLP case on http://imslpforums.org.

Interestingly enough, UE wrote another letter where they tried to explain the details of their claim. Here are the composers they list:

Leos Janacek is in copyright in Spain.
Richard Strauss is still in copyright in Europe.
Alban Berg is still in copyright in Spain and some works in France.
Some of the works by Mahler are arrangements or edited versions, which means they enjoy copyright protection for their editors.
Joseph Marx is in full copyright worldwide, including Canada.
Schönberg is in copyright in Europe and the USA.
Bartók is in copyright in Europe and the USA.

Interestingly enough, Szymanowski is not on the list. I haven't got enough patience to wade through all the pages of discussions to see if they later added anything about him. I do suspect it was either carelessness or even a bluff on their part...

When does one country have to obey to another countries laws?

Apparently never (at least that is what I understand from the imslpforums discussions): it is the country's own responsibility to restrict access to scores on the internet which are not yet out of copyright in that country. Other countries need not care at all.

[Maciek]

A BBC news article on the subject.

Nothing revelatory but nice to see lawyers morally supporting IMSLP's case.

[Maciek]

Only ten days left.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Only ten days left.

Excellent news!

[greg]

can't waaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttt 

[greg]

the rebirth of IMSLP  0:)

http://imslp.org/wiki/Main_Page

so soooooooooooooo glad they could do this  0:)

they probably don't have much new (good) stuff yet, but i'll have to check

[greg]

Everybody! They have the complete Sibelius symphonies up! 

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH you all have to check it out!

[lukeottevanger]

 

And there I was trying to free up space on my hard drive...

Actually, the first score I tried to look at had this message:

Error
You have reached this page because the file you requested has not been reviewed for copyright, or is currently restricted due to technical reasons.

A significant portion of the original IMSLP is still pending copyright review, so expect the number of blocked files to decrease dramatically in the next few months after IMSLP reopening. More details on how to spot a blocked file without having to click on it will be released here very soon.

so it looks as if there's still a bit more waiting to do...

[greg]

yep, i see a few with those, but the only ones i've seen were non-PD US. They might be trying to block access with them, depending on where you computer is, maybe?

[Maciek]

Actually, the first score I tried to look at had this message:

It looks like that's the message you get for every score that isn't PD (Public Domain) in the US. (At least that's my experience so far.)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I'll have a look!

Later: downloaded the First movement of Bruckner's First Symphony. Just had to obey the laws of my country regarding copyright...