Re: Licensing and custom lines

[Wol]

On 28/10/2021 14:39, Carl Sorensen wrote:
> *From: *lilypond-user 
> <lilypond-user-bounces+carl.d.sorensen=gmail.com@gnu.org> on behalf of 
> Charlie Boilley <boilley.c@outlook.com>
> *Date: *Thursday, October 28, 2021 at 1:37 AM
> *To: *"lilypond-user@gnu.org" <lilypond-user@gnu.org>
> *Subject: *Licensing and custom lines
>
> Dear Lilypond community,

> Then, how can be 100% sure that I can keep :
>
> - my musical work closed source and share it along the license I wany by 
> using some scripts from other users or built on snippets ?
>
> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2021-10/msg00398.html 
> <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2021-10/msg00398.html>
>
> You have copyright in the music, not in the engraving.  If your 
> copyright were in the engraving, all one would have to do to break your 
> copyright is to re-engrave the music.

Um, no. If that were true, how come Beethoven is still copyright ... (or 
rather, scores of Beethoven are).

Copyright exists SEPARATELY in the composition, the arrangement, the 
performance, and the edition.
> As long as you distribute only engravings (output from LilyPond), there 
> is no assertion in GPL of a need to release source, as described in my 
> answer to Karsten.  You are free to keep the source used for the 
> engraving closed and share it with nobody.
Because the engraving is a mechanical transformation of the source, I 
think the correct argument is these two are one copyright. And yes, 
because, IFF it is all your own work, then you are under no obligation 
to share anything, you set your own terms, you can share the engraving 
separately from the source with no reference to any other licences.

This also holds true when engraving eg *original* Beethoven - the 
original music is PD, you hold copyright in the engraving ... (and as 
Carl says, this will break the copyright PROVIDING the publisher doesn't 
hold a copyright in the arrangement ...) (Which means you can't stop 
anyone from using your work to re-engrave any work for which you do not 
hold copyright in the composition)

It gets murky when engraving a lot of music from other sources, because 
modern composers will hold copyright in the composition. And it's not 
unusual for something described as "Beethoven" to be in a modern 
arrangement, for which the arranger will hold copyright ... In those 
scenarios, you're NOT free to do as you will...

Copyright is a legal hairball - as soon as you start dealing with OTHER 
PEOPLE'S work, there be dragons ...

Cheers,
Wol