Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

Copyright for Rearrangement of Classical Music

I am rearranging some piano sonatas of Beethoven so that they can be played by a string quartet.

Can I copyright this product?

Can I authorize string quartets to play this music in concert and for recordings?

Do I owe anything to the piano edition I used as input to this rearrangement, which was copyrighted in 1935 and renewed in 1963 both by Simon and Schuster?

There are many other editions of Beethoven piano sonatas which would be equally useful for my purposes. Thanks

Clark


Asked on 9/30/03, 8:07 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lawrence Graves Coolidge & Graves PLLC

Re: Copyright for Rearrangement of Classical Music

The work is in the public domain. The sheet music copyright is limited to exact reproduction and editorial notations; you may freely rearrange the work for different instruments. To the extent that you add sufficient original content to create a derivative work that independently qualifies for copyright protection as to the new elements, you would own that bundle of rights. As a practical matter, it seems unlikely that you would be able to glean any significant licensing income from the performance of such works.

Best wishes,

LDWG

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Answered on 10/01/03, 11:54 am


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