Guidelines for the Uses of Music

Copyright and Music - Refer to TTU OP 30.22.4

In a joint letter dated April 30, 1976, representatives of the Music Publishers' Association of the United States, Inc., the National Music Publishers' Association, Inc., the Music Teachers National Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the National Association of Schools of Music, and the ad hoc Committee on Copyright Law Revision wrote to Chairman Kastenmeier, forwarding the minimum guidelines they had developed "to clarify Fair Use as it applies to music (under Section 107)." The complete text of that letter and those guidelines also are included in the House Judiciary Committee report (HR94-1476, pp. 70-71) which accompanies the law.

1. Permissible Uses
1. Emergency copying to replace purchased copies which for any reason are not available for an imminent performance provided purchased replacement copies shall be substituted in due course.
2. For Academic Purposes Other Than Performance:
1. Multiple copies of excerpts of works may be made, provided that the excerpts do not comprise a part of the whole which would constitute a performable unit such as a section, movement or aria, but in no case more than 10 percent of the whole work. The number of copies shall not exceed one copy per pupil.
2. A single copy of an entire performable unit (section, movement, aria, etc.), that is
1. confirmed by the copyright proprietor to be out of print or
2. unavailable except in a larger work, may be made by or for a teacher solely for the purpose of that teacher's scholarly research or in preparation to teach a class.

3. Printed copies which have been purchased may be edited or simplified provided that the fundamental character of the work is not distorted or the lyrics, if any, altered or lyrics added if none exist.
4. A single copy of recordings of performances by students may be made for evaluation or rehearsal purposes and may be retained by the educational institution or individual teacher.
5. A single copy of a sound recording (such as a tape, disc or cassette) of copyrighted music may be made from sound recordings owned by an educational institution or an individual teacher for the purpose of constructing aural exercises or examinations and may be retained by the educational institution or individual teacher. (This pertains only to the copyright of the music itself and not to any copyright which may exist in the sound recording.)

2. Prohibitions
1. Copying to create or replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works.
2. Copying of or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or of teaching such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and answer sheets and like material.
3. Copying for the purpose of performance (for exceptions, see full OP 30.22.4).
4. Copying for the purpose of substituting for the purchase of music (for exceptions, see full OP 30.22.4).
5. Copying without inclusion of the copyright notice which appears on the printed copy.