IMSLP Forums

Hey everyone,

I'm planning to record (myself) and upload some piano compositions by composers whose works are either not PD yet (e.g. Prokofiev) or in murky waters (e.g. Poulenc)...

Does anyone know if I need permission or licenses from their publishers? I know loads of people do it without thinking about this kind of stuff but I'd like to do it properly...

Thanks in advance for your help.

P.S. The videos are for YouTube.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, but I can share some experience with your question. My current performance interests are in obscure 20th century composers, whose work is still under copyright, so your question is one that I have considered for a while.

My understanding is that the copyright covers performance *for profit*. I have released Four(3) by John Cage on bandcamp, for which I have a contract with Edition Peters (who gets paid annually based on my sales). Without contacting anyone, I later posted a performance of Music for Marcel Duchamp by Cage on YouTube. After a month or so, YouTube notified me that there was a copyright claim on my video. As it turned out, the copyright claim was filed by a recording company, who saw that Music for Marcel Duchamp was on one of their Cage CD releases. I successfully contested the claim (since it was my performance and not from the CD). However, this tells me that Edition Peters could put a copyright claim on my video if it so chose. The only revenue from this action, as far as I can tell from looking on YouTube after the copyright claim, would be from the slice of advertising that might be shown, and even then not in all markets (i.e., very very small).

Based on my experience with the two Cage pieces, I've chosen YouTube as my release platform of choice. I tried to contact the publisher of one of the other pieces I published on YouTube about releasing the work on bandcamp and never got an answer, so it lives only on YouTube. Many publishers from early-mid 20th century no longer exist, and finding the correct licensing could be a job in itself. While YouTube's approach puts the onus on the copyright owners, it permits the release of a wide variety of performances, regardless of the financial motivations (or lack thereof).

On here, If the work is Public domain in your country of origin, most likely you won't need a license since it has passed into the public domain.