Legality of Digital Reader use

[timothy42b]

I have a Kindle Fire 10 and am moving my practice music to it. I use Mobilesheets for the library program and the pieces are in PDF format. Works great. I wish I'd done it long ago.

I also see ensemble performances where players have tablets on their stands instead of sheet music. I would like to go that route too, but ................ copyright.

Scanning and digitizing is reproduction, and the right to reproduce is held by the copyright owner. I've done a good bit of googling and some arguing on facebook, and I'm confident my practice music is covered by the "personal use" category (not the fair use, which it isn't.)

Public performance is completely different. Everything I read says there is no exception that allows it. It is neither fair use nor personal use; you can't bring a photocopy even if you own the original, and it seems a PDF would be equivalent.

But on the other hand, I do see it being done. Is there something I've missed? It's not me I'm worried about. I have an obligation not to cause risk to the organizations I play with or use space from.

Two years ago at ATW the Army orchestra had tablets for most of the strings. Some turned pages with a footpedal and others tapped the screen. This year I didn't see any, so I wondered.

[Elow]

I don’t think cops are checking stands to see who’s breaking copyright laws. But then again, if you’re job depends on it then i wouldn’t risk it. I think most people just take the risk, or their music is older than 100 years or something i forget how long it is after the composer dies but it’s about that.

[BGuttman]

In the US, copyright extends to alost all woks published since 1924; anything older is Public Domain.

If you have the original sheet music and are just playing from the digital copy rather than the original paper, you probably have an argument that it's OK. But you better keep the sheet music -- no scanning and selling. Also, you just can't scan the part and hand it out to, say, a section of 6 without permission.

The rules are relaxed a bit for schools, which can have a loophole for educational use.

[timothy42b]

The rules are relaxed a bit for schools, which can have a loophole for educational use.

Yes and that's why I asked on Facebook where some university teachers hangout.

This is not educational use so that exemption is out. Schools did have a loophole that allowed performance as long as admission was not charged but that was recently eliminated.

I don't see any problem with a college student keeping his music on a tablet but I don't see a legal way for a college wind ensemble or orchestra to perform with them. I've found some links for university copyright policy but this wasn't directly addressed.

Here is a good one:
https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Music- ... 9QG_Kd4ot8


It would sure make life easier for the librarian, and the player could ensure he got the same copy with his edits on it. (and I didn't have to decipher music with wrong fingerings obscuring the notes)