Copyright and Music Education

With the development of easier and cheaper ways to copy material, whether printed or recorded, there is the increased danger of breaking one or more of the complex copyright laws. Knowing what is acceptable within an educational environment can sometimes require an advanced degree in copyright and trademark law.

The bottom line is, in most cases, it is not legal to copy printed music. It deprives the composeres and arrangers, who created the work, and the publishers, who incur the costs involved in licensing, printing and distributing the piece, of their well deserved income.

Listed below are a number of resources that attempt to clarify these laws and put them into perspective for music educators.

• Copyright Law: What Music Teachers Need to Know (via The National Association for Music Education)
  
• United States Copyright Law: A Guide for Music Educators (via The National Association for Music Education)
  
• Copyright for Music Librarians (via the Music Library Association)
  
• Copyright Resource Center (via the Music Publishers' Association)
  
• Copyright and Fair Use (via Stanford University)
  
• Copyright Basics and Law (via the U.S. Copyright Office)
  
• Copyright and the Public Domain (via the Public Domain Information Project)
  
• Coprights: A Short Primer for Music Educators (via The Music Education Madness Site)
  
• What Music Educators Should Know About Copyright (via Artists House Music - Be careful with this one as a video presentation starts automatically)
  
• The Copyright Monster and Music Educators: We Can All Co-Exist (via Music for All)