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International Music Score Library Project

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IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library
The IMSLP homepage as of May 2007
Type of site
Music score library
Available inCatalan, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
OwnerIMSLP community
Created byEdward W. Guo (Feldmahler)
URLwww.imslp.org
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional (required for contributing)

The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), now also known as the Petrucci Music Library after Ottaviano Petrucci, is a project for the creation of a virtual library of public domain music scores, based on the wiki principle. Since its launch on February 16, 2006, more than 22,000 scores, for 12,000 works, by over 1,200 composers have been uploaded, making it one of the largest public domain music score collections on the web.[1] The project uses MediaWiki software to provide contributors with a familiar interface.

History

Overview

The site launched on February 16, 2006. The library consists mainly of scans of old musical editions out of copyright. In addition, it admits scores by contemporary composers who wish to share their music with the world by releasing it under a Creative Commons license. One of the main projects of IMSLP was the sorting and uploading of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach in the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (1851–99), a task that was completed on November 3rd, 2008. Besides J.S. Bach's complete public domain works, all of Frédéric Chopin's, Johannes Brahms's, Handel's, a large percentage of Franz Liszt's, and others are nearly all available as well.

Besides providing a digital repository, IMSLP offers possibilities as a musicological encyclopaedia, since multiple and historical editions of a single composition can be uploaded, and musicological analyses and historical commentaries accompany the scores.

IMSLP is officially recommended by MIT,[2][3] which also used it extensively in some of its OpenCourseWare courses.[4][5] It is suggested as a resource by university libraries at Oberlin Conservatory of Music,[6] Manhattan School of Music[7] Stanford University,[8] McGill University,[9] Brown University,[10] University of Maryland,[11] University of Washington,[12] University of Wisconsin-Madison,[13] and it has been submitted to MERLOT by a member professor.[14]

Closure and reopening

On 19 October, 2007 the IMSLP closed following legal demands from Universal Edition of Vienna, Austria.[15] The cease and desist letter expressed concern that some works that are in public domain in the server's location in Canada with copyright protection of 50 years post mortem, but which are protected by the 70 years post mortem term in some other countries, were available in those countries. The administrator of the website, known under the nickname Feldmahler, decided to close down the repository, but left the forums online so that discussions into the best way to proceed could be made:[16]

On Saturday October 13, 2007, I received a second Cease and Desist letter from Universal Edition. At first I thought this letter would be similar in content to the first Cease and Desist letter I received in August. However, after lengthy discussions with very knowledgeable lawyers and supporters, I became painfully aware of the fact that I, a normal college student, has neither the energy nor the money necessary to deal with this issue in any other way than to agree with the cease and desist, and take down the entire site. I cannot apologize enough to all IMSLP contributors, who have done so much for IMSLP in the last two years.

— Feldmahler (project leader)

In response, director Michael S. Hart of Project Gutenberg offered support to keep the project online.[17] This offer was declined by Feldmahler, who voiced concern about having the project hosted in the United States, and consulted the Canadian wing of Project Gutenberg.[16] On November 2, 2007, Michael Geist, a prominent Canadian copyright academic, wrote an article for the BBC discussing the specifics and the wider implications of this case.[18]

This case is enormously important
from a public domain perspective.

IMSLP went back online on 30 June, 2008.

Similar projects

References

  1. ^ "Classical and Choral Sheet Music". The Free Sheet Music Guide. 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  2. ^ Moore, Christie (2007-01-05). "Wiki of public domain classical scores". MIT Library News. Retrieved 2007-11-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Research Guides: Music". MIT Libraries. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  4. ^ MIT (2007). "21M.250 Schubert to Debussy, Fall 2006". MIT OpenCourseWare. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  5. ^ MIT (2007). "21M.262 Modern Music:1900-1960, Fall 2006". MIT OpenCourseWare. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  6. ^ Conlib (2007-04-26). "Classical Music in the Public Domain". News from the Oberlin Conservatory Library. Retrieved 2008-09-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Sharp, Peter Jay (2007). "Free stuff on the web". The Peter Jay Sharp Library, Manhattan School of Music. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  8. ^ "Outside links of interest". Stanford University, Libraries and Academic Information Resources. 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  9. ^ "Scores (online databases and indexes)". Marvin Duchow Music Library, McGill. 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  10. ^ Quist, Ned (2007). "Selected internet resources for music". Brown University Library. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  11. ^ "Finding Music Scores, UM Libraries". University of Maryland Libraries. 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  12. ^ "Musical Scores". University of Washington Libraries. 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  13. ^ "Resources: Scores (Printed Music) - Mills Music Library, UW-Madison". University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  14. ^ Alvira, Jose Rodriguez (2007-03-18). "Material Detail, IMSLP". Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. Retrieved 2008-09-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Clark, Ken (2007-10-05). "Cease and Desist Letter from Universal Edition AG" (PDF). Aird & Berlis LLP. Retrieved 2007-10-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ a b Feldmahler (2007-10-19). "Open letter". Retrieved 2008-02-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Hart, Michael (2007-10-23). "Re: Three quick links on digitizations and their constraints". Book People (Mailing list). Retrieved 2007-12-29. {{cite mailing list}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |mailinglist= ignored (|mailing-list= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Geist, Michael (2007-11-02). "The day the music died". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-11-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

See also

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