OK to post arrangements?

Is it OK to post arrangements of popular songs? Are there copyright issues in doing that?

You can potentially infringe copyright by arranging any genre of music, although jazz standards spring to mind as one potential exception to this rule. Perhaps someone else can shed further light on that.

I don't see it being a big deal. I've posted arrangement of songs here before and no one cared to much.

I doubt it'll be any trouble for the site owners here. They usually send you a letter asking for you to remove something if they feel you are infringing copyright laws. I doubt any major media company is surfing these forums and looking for arrangements of a song they own. It isn't probable or likely. Even if they did, by chance, do it, it isn't a big deal. Not like they'll sue you or the Mikes.

So in short, do it, post it, and let us hear.

...also, providing you're not selling the arrangements or performing/broadcasting it publicly, you're generally all right. There's no law against 'arranging' per se, it's when you start making money off someone else's work that it gets sticky.

I suppose posting online is a form of broadcasting...but whatever. As DOFTS says - the risks are minimal. Better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

...

Hooray a chance to practise my masters degree topic :D

Well... erm, copyright subsists in all music as you probably know. By arranging someone else's music you are technically infringing on their copyright. Your arrangement will actually carry with it a copyright of its own, so if someone copies your arrangement you could sue them :p But that's totally off the point.

The point is that while the copyright holder will be entitled to stop you, they generally won't because firstly they probably won't know, and secondly it's just not worth the hassle for them (thirdly, many copyright owners don't really care). If you start making big bucks from it then they'll see a chance to make money off you, and then you'll need to think more carefully about it.

But generally speaking you're fine :) If you plan on making money from the arrangement then you're best off getting the permission of the copyright holder (usually by buying a licence from them).

So more or less it's OK, unless you get a cease and desist? LOL

Cool, I'm thinking of working on some solo piano arrangements of 'jazz' songs. I think this would be the perfect avenue for getting advice.

Yea, besides, writing arrangements is a good way to work on your instrumentations.

...also, providing you're not selling the arrangements or performing/broadcasting it publicly, you're generally all right. There's no law against 'arranging' per se, it's when you start making money off someone else's work that it gets sticky.

Bingo. Arranging itself isn't a bad idea, particularly if you're learning to orchestrate for different types of ensembles.

I remember when we did arrangements of Berg's four pieces for clarinet and piano in instrumentation class. This was towards the end of 2005, but the performance was 2006, so we cheated a bit and wrote 2006 on the scores, since Berg died 1935 and the copyright was in tact till 70 years after his death :P

Of course, this was an official project by a conservatory with several participants, so you need to be a bit more careful then when a single person (unless well-known) does a solitary arrangement of a piece.

But you can't always count on the fact that copyright owners don't mind anyways. That may be true for many composers themselves, but publishers tend to be quite possessive of their music.

Just to clarify :P Insofar as English law is concerned, whilst it is copyright infringement to arrange a musical work (see Section 21 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988), there is a defence under s.29(1C) CDPA 1988:

"Fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work for the purposes of private study does not infringe any copyright in the work"

Posting the work on this forum may take it out of the scope of 'private study' but probably not. Anyway in practise none of this really matters but I just thought I'd get it right. It can count as revision :D

...Then...there is arranging folk tunes. Ha, you wont have ANY worry then...unless they are 'recent folk tunes'.

See: When Johnny Comes Marching Home Piano Concerto by me. I can't get in trouble for that...because the theme is SOOOOOO old!

So for example, if I were to transcribe the Star Wars theme for solo piano and post it here, would that cause problems? Would it be infringing copyright?

...if I were to transcribe the Star Wars theme for solo piano and post it here, would that cause problems?

Probably not...

Would it be infringing copyright?

Yes.

Probably not...

Yes.

Actually, I'm not sure - doing something for private use or study is a valid defence (under English law at least - though it's reasonable to assume that US law is similar).