I was wondering if anyone knew the laws regarding copyrights of old songs.

How long do the copyrights/royalties last... is it for 50 years after their death or the date of composition or something similar?

For example, Adagio for strings was composed in 1936 and Samuel Barber died in 1981. William Orbit remade it in the late 1990's and since we've heard many bad attempts at recreating the classic melody.

I guess you are talking about, when something will go public domain? So Adagio isn't a good example as I think they all had a license to use it, no matter about the death of the original composer. In some cases copyright will be still by someone else, even if the original composer is dead.

quote:

"Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) is under copyright. It was composed in 1936, and assuming it was copyrighted that year, it will not enter the public domain in the USA until the year 2031. In the UK, where copyright subsists for 70 years after the composer's death, it will remain under copyright until the year 2051.

the sheet music is copyrighted but your own performance isn't. Some composers would change a few notes here and there to extend the copyright. Stravinsky was big on this.HE would change a few notes decades after the first edition and as such, the copyright would be extended. Sync license might be another issue but if you are just doing an arrangement, you''re fine.

I think the bigger question is why on earth do you want to remix something so overdone.

___________________
"This is why Superman works alone." GC
old stuff from days gone by (2001-2004)
Mad For Brad's gay little contest

Last edited by Looney4Clooney on Nov-11-2010 at 18:29

Not looking to re-do adagio for strings of course...

Was thinking something along the lines of debussy's afternoon of a faun

that would be interesting to hear in that I just don't see how you can make dance tune out of it.

___________________
"This is why Superman works alone." GC
old stuff from days gone by (2001-2004)
Mad For Brad's gay little contest