Thanks Lee for your reply. I'm not into copyright's laws, but my publisher told me that here in Italy the only illegal thing you can do is to sell sheet music of copyrighted stuff.Leea25 wrote:As someone who does a lot of arranging of other peoples music, I think I can help here. To my knowledge, the law regarding arrangements, across Europe and America (and probably many other places), is that if a piece is still in copyright, you may not make an arrangement without permission from the copyright holder (normally the publisher, but sometimes the composer still). I have had experience of publishers being delighted at the idea of an arrangement and allowing me to complete and perform it for no fee, right to the opposite end, where I have had flat refusals without even wanting to hear my idea... and everything in between!
In this case, it seems that although someone could have peformed the orchestral original, perhaps, by filling in the form so all the appropriate fees would be taken care of, you did not have permission to make a piano arrangement, so the video was banned. In the UK, that piano arrangement would technically be considered illegal, though nobody is likely to take you to court for it, just ask you not to perform it again. I think the same would be true in Italy.
I hope that helps. Basically, if you want to arrange something, ask. If a piano version doesn't exist, then you can't just make one.
Lee
On the internet there are millions of piano covers of songs, sountracks etc. (some with sheet music, some without) and if they are still playing that means that publishers are earning money from the live streaming of those videos. Every video that has a publicity spot is monetizing, and part (or all) of the monetization goes to the publishers. This means millions of dollars that are gained by publishers. Otherwise they would have already removed those videos and close those channels. This is not difficult to understand: the more a composer is performed (in the halls, on radio/television or on the internet) the more rights he gets (I'm a composer too and I'm not at all upset when my compositions are played in public or on the internet, also without permission). I arranged some classic pieces (and soundtracks) that were not available (even for purchasing) and some were performed in public concerts and are still playing on Youtube. All the rights of those performances goes to the composers and the publishers....and my publisher told me that, currently, the live streaming incomes are much more than the concert ones. The question is: why the copyright's owners publish only arrangements for beginners or intermediate (that a concert pianist will never buy) and not also advanced scores that can be performed in concert halls? Having the full score available it is not that long and difficult to make a professional piano piece. Sorry for my bad english.
Mercuzio
