alks said:
I was wondering, having printed off a number of free pieces of band music offered on the web (sibelius music, RTB band ect) if they later become published pieces, does this mean the copies i printed for free are now illegal?
Alks
No! The fact that they are available to download on the internet already means that they are being published by the composer/arranger (in agreement with the site that they are being downloaded from) with an exclusive condition to be able to 'download' for free.
If at any time the music is published by another person/company that music would probably cease to exist in its current form and would be issued with the new copyright.
To give you an example: The published arrangement of 'The Lone Ar-ranger'
(Thornes Music) was up until recently available to download from Sibelius.com. I entered into an agreement with the arranger who accepted my offer to publish the music. The music was withdrawn from Sibelius.com and is now only available from myself. The music now carries my copyright and is published as a 'new' piece.
Hope that explains the situation.
:wink: