Re: Thinking about putting together a grant to support development on LilyPond

[Nick Payne]

On 10/02/12 10:00, Janek Warchoł wrote:
> 2012/2/9 Xavier Scheuer<address@hidden>:
> > 2012/2/9 Janek Warchoł<address@hidden>:
> > > Not sure if i understand correctly how Kickstarter works, but what
> > > about a project for creating a free typeset edition of some famous
> > > piece (like Mozart's Requiem)?  The funds would be split between
> > > typesetter and programmer who implements necessary features.  I could
> > > do the typesetting part.
> > And if you add a musician that would do a recording of the piece and
> > release it for free (as in "free software", not only "free beer")
> > you would obtain something like the "Open Goldberg Variations" project.
> > http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/293573191/open-goldberg-variations-setting-bach-free
> > There it's MuseScore that is used as typesetting software.
> 8O
> $23 000... Unbelievable!!  So simple and so effective.
> Heck, let's do it!
> Do you know of any famous pieces of music without freely accessible
> scores?  I have only one shot now, but it isn't perfect: Samuel
> Barber's "Adagio for Strings" was composed in 1936 but the composer
> died not-so-long-ago (1981).  Still, it's possible that in some
> countries the work itself might be out of copyright.

The minimum required by the Berne convention is 50 years beyond the 
authors death before a work becomes public domain. Here in Australia, as 
in the US and EU, it's 70 years. So if Barber died in 1981, his works 
won't become public domain until 2051. And depending on the country, the 
publication from which you were working would also have had to be 
published before 1981.

Nick