Bach + commercial purpose

[Taurus]

Can you put a song of bach you played on CD and sell it without breaking the guys copyright laws?

I mean hes dead and hes not gonna put his hand on your shoulder and say 'hey buddy, youre getting money off playing my stuff, you tard'
, but isnt there somekind of Bach foundation that somehow still holds his rights that should prevent this? (out of respect or smth, god knows)

Just curious, i'd love to make a classical CD.

[Fossil Records]

Just because someone is dead doesn't mean that their copyright is no longer valid. The copyright is transferred to an estate, a beneficiary, or is purchased by someone else who can maintain the copyright. A copyright lasts for 75 years and is considered in effect upon generation of the work; though registration of a copyright is typically done to "prove" copyright ownership in court.

Having said that, Bach and his contemporaries are all considered in the public domain. Have fun recording your classical album. :wink:

[Taurus]

Doesnt something that is in public domain still have a copyright?

[Quili]

I´m not sure how that works... For example: If you record a Bach piece and said you wrote it yourself, who would sue you? Bach´s decendants? Bach´s publisher´s decendants? The protestant church? God?

[Taurus]

You'd not say you'd wrote it yourself. You'd even give credit and the song the original name and basically claim you just -played it-. Kinda like Vitalij Kuprij did on his cd 'Extreme Measures'.

But Bach should still have the copyright of the -composition- in that case i suppose. So youre making money by selling a composition that he created.

Its really hard to find the answer in a subject like this without actually asking a professional Lawyer...

Im left with answers :?:

[ChrisMcCoy]

This should clarify things....

http://www.sbomagazine.com/sbomag/nov03/technology.html

[Taurus]

Thank you Chris, that one answered most of my problems. Thanks all of ya hehe :wink: