The Yellow Board

Making Copies

Posted by The Richmeister on 7/16/2022, 11:42 am

Query: If you had a copy of a copyrighted material (say a method book or a workbook) for each student and instead of giving each kid the actual book you gave them a copy but collected all copies and destroyed them when you were finished using them, is that a violation of copyright laws? This was a discussion I was having with an orchestra teacher last night.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by NLABD on 7/20/2022, 1:55 pm, in reply to "Making Copies"

To grossly oversimplify - follow the money.

If you are making copies to avoid purchase of items, its illegal.

If your copies somehow allow you to make money, it's illegal.

Most stuff falls under category 1.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Also Yes on 7/17/2022, 9:07 am, in reply to "Making Copies"

Yes. It’s illegal.

I always compare it to speeding. Many people do it, many don’t get caught, but when YOU do get caught, there is no defense. There is plenty of legal precedent in which ignorance of these laws doesn’t save you.

On another note, more and more publishers KNOW this, and I believe that’s part of the reasons why you’re starting to see a shift to digital distribution rights - You buy a PDF copy at a HIGHLY marked up price, but in the process get rights to make as many copies as you would like. This allows the publisher to save tons of overhead on actual printing and distribution by pushing the cost to YOUR printer, while charging the same or more.

The down side? You only buy one copy/set and don’t keep coming back for more. What if you distribute that pdf? DRM embedded in the files helps with stopping this, but it’s an interesting change to watch.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by A few observations... on 7/17/2022, 3:47 pm, in reply to "Re: Making Copies"

When I was a middle school director, each printed set would have 2 French Horn parts and as many as 6 tuba parts....really? I always had the opposite in instrumentation.

I know the proper answer is to buy whatever extra parts you need for your band. By the way, how many of you out there handed out your one timpany part only to find that between the podium and the section the part was "lost" that very same day?

One of my favorite quotes was from an old master who said: "If they put every band director who ever made a copy of music for his students in jail, we would have a heck of a prison band".

It's wrong to copy all the parts to entire pieces to avoid buying the set (unless it's permanently out of print).

Re: Making Copies

Posted by old on 7/17/2022, 6:00 pm, in reply to "Re: Making Copies"

Fair use does allow you to make copies to meet the instrumentation of your group beyond the parts included in the set. This was a change and a reasonable one, as some of us old folk can remember TMEA and/or Regions selling pieces after convention because they had to buy six copies of the piece to cover everyone. So you can make copies to fill what you need, but should not keep or allow students to keep them.

Even more practical (but not exactly legal) is the practice of always holding back one copy of each part as a 'reference set'. So yes, the timpani/bari sax/Eb contra player gets a copy and when they use that copy to keep the oil from their car from leaking onto their painted school parking place, you can make another. Not saying I did that (ahem) - the reference set thing, not the oil leak thing - but I know that is a fairly standard (and practical) practice.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Um... on 7/17/2022, 9:30 pm, in reply to "Re: Making Copies"

Your statement about "this was a change" is simply not factual. There was no change made. Fair use does NOT allow you to make copies to meet your group's instrumentation.

There is no "just a couple" exception in fair use, nor in copyright. If you are copying 100% of a work (as in a full page) you are violating copyright, full stop. (Unless it's for emergency purposes just prior to a performance)

There haven't been any substantive changes to copyright laws regarding printed music in the past twenty years. There have been plenty to digital music and recorded music, however.

Nearly every practice you're describing is in fact by letter of the law illegal. You can't just keep a single set of music and give copies to the kids and remain in compliance with copyright. Legally, every kid needs to have their own original music for every song you perform, full stop. I know VERY WELL that it's not practical, but it IS the law.

Harvard Fair Use Guide

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Me on 7/17/2022, 11:47 am, in reply to "Re: Making Copies"

Literally nothing stops people from making copies of printed music and sending it to their friends, or scanning copies of printed music and emailing them to their friends either. Distributing a PDF provided by the publisher is literally no different. Any sort of DRM is doomed to failure.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Yep... on 7/17/2022, 9:36 pm, in reply to "Re: Making Copies"

Agreed...although you didn't hear this from me, all one would need to do is print out one copy of each part from the DRM'd file, then scan them back in and POOF you have a DRM free PDF file.

But then, you didn't hear that from me.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Techie on 7/17/2022, 11:50 pm, in reply to "Re: Making Copies"

If your computer doesn't have a virtual printer that prints to PDF... Go download one.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Me on 7/18/2022, 8:36 am, in reply to "Re: Making Copies"

Every computer has one by default - Microsoft has "Print to PDF" as a printer option.

However, some website-embedded DRM doesn't recognize that as a valid print destination. I recommend CutePDF as an alternative.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Depending on 7/17/2022, 11:40 pm, in reply to "Re: Making Copies"

As a Mac user I've found the print to pdf option in the print dialogue bypasses most companies DRM schemes too. Also works if they've locked an adobe pdf to bypass that.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by really retired on 7/16/2022, 3:21 pm, in reply to "Making Copies"

not to be too obtuse - but when you destroy the copies, what do you do with the actual books? Perhaps, you can use them next year and destroy those copies too? Personally, I believe that I may have done something like that way back when - can't remember exactly. Some folks use to buy only one copy of a book, copy it, and ... I don't suppose I actually answered anything here.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Yes on 7/16/2022, 2:06 pm, in reply to "Making Copies"

Since you asked if it's a violation, I think the simple answer is yes.

I'm not a lawyer, but I think there's no question in court you would lose a case - this is a clear case of copyright infringement preventing revenue to the creator. There's an educational exclusion to an extent in some of these things, but I don't think it would hold up on this.

That being said, unless you're truly flaunting it in some way to the publisher I don't see anyone coming after a school. Truthfully if they wanted to they could go into almost any band library in the country and bust all of us.

Re: Making Copies

Posted by Beagle on 7/16/2022, 1:46 pm, in reply to "Making Copies"

Yes. That's against copyright.

You're not allowed to give out 100% copies and retain originals, even if you take them up later. You can copy up to 10% of a work for it to fall under fair use. Whether or not you destroy the copies afterwards is immaterial. You're creating illegal copies, full stop.

Does that stop virtually anyone? No. But the law is the law is the law.

Here's the ridiculous part. The KID is allowed to make THEIR OWN copy for rehearsal purposes. Or, if you handed out the method books to each kid but asked them to use the "copy" it's a rehearsal purpose copy, and THAT is legal, provided the student has the original in their possession. But if you retain the originals yourself, it's against copyright.

It's all part of why TECHNICALLY you're required to have original copies of your music at UIL. Even though, again, virtually no one checks.

« Back to index

[ The Yellow Board ]