Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Colorado
Is it legal to download classical music (pre 1923)?
On peer-to-peer file sharing sites sites such as Kazaa or Winmx classical music files are posted and can be downloaded. It is my understanding that music written before 1923 is in the public domain. So, is it legal to download, for example, a Mozart symphony off of a site like Kazaa, since the piece was written before 1923? Or, does the performer or the producer (or any other entity) also have a copyright that would be infringed upon if the piece was downloaded off of a peer-to-peer file sharing site? Thanks!!!!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Is it legal to download classical music (pre 1923)?
Copyright in musical performances is altogether strange to anyone unfamiliar with it; there are distinct rights in the musical composition itself and the recorded performances of that music. Thus, for example, any copyright in Mozart sheet music is not in the notes but the particular editorial comments done by modern music publishers (in fact, there was a publishing house whose specialty was reproducing sheet music of other publishers whose copyright in their scores had expired); but this facet has nothing whatever to do with the "mechanical license" rights. If, say, the Boston Symphony performs a Mozart concerto and that performance is recorded and published by RCA Victor, and then made available on a P2P file-sharing community, the result is substantially the same as if a Beatles song were available for download.
Best wishes,
LDWG
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