BrassBulletin

International Magazine for Brass Players

Brass Bulletin 41, I / 1983 page 25–27 · 2 min. read

Musical Piracy

Plagiarism, Photocopying

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Musical Piracy

Plagiarism

Before musical notation was invented musicians communicated their melodies by oral tradition, a system which survives today in the music hall or vaudeville, in certain kinds of popular music and folk music, and in jazz.

From the 14th and 15th centuries, when notation took shape and became stable, it became possible to copy another's work! History shows that there have always been two sorts of copies:

  1. the ‘‘honest’’ copy

where one musician is inspired by another for a theme, an orchestration (arrangements, adaptations, etc.) — taking care to state this clearly by giving the original author and title — or, for very well known themes, fleeting musical allusions, humorous parodies (including parodies of style) etc. The ‘‘honest’’ copy is also a valuable teaching tool for consolidating what has been learned.

  1. the ‘‘dishonest’’ copy

where a musician who is short of inspiration but still pretentious uses someone else's creation to serve his own prestige. In the trade this is called plagiarism.

Until the second half of the last century, scarcely a hundred years ago, the victims of plagiarism had virtually no means of defending themselves. As the various states were formed, country after country dealt with this problem by creating laws to protect intellectual and artistic property (authors' rights). This was not without problems and there innumerable stories of epic court cases. To this was eventually added copyright, protecting both author and publisher, and today this legal protection extends to almost every country in the world. And yet piracy, more subtle now, continues. Favorite targets are dead composers, preferable not too well known. This plundering takes many forms: a melody camouflaged by a different accompaniment, a new melody to the harmonies of a successful one etc. Imagination is fertile in this area. And this is without mentioning the fantastic plagiarism which has been carried out with works now in the public domain.

A typical example

(There are thousands, but this one illustrates a case from our own particular area.)

Many trumpet players know and appreciate the excellent studies by the late Paolo Longinotti (the former solo trumpet at the Suisse Romande Orchestra, who died in 1961) published under the title Studies in Classical and Modern Style by I.M.C. in New York. The copyright does not prohibit the copying of the rhythms, the bar figures or even the titles so that the retired horn player Edmond Leloir — who had been Longinotti's ‘‘colleague’’ for many years and had made himself a not particularly distinguished name by publishing numerous and ill-assorted titles of uncertain origin — was able to ‘‘pinch’’ from this colleague of his who had been dead for twenty years enough material to enable him to grace his Dix Etudes pour le cor en Fa ("Ten Studies for Horn in F", G. Billaudot, Paris 1981) with a generous dedication to ‘‘Georges Barboteu, Professor at the Paris Conservatoire, in memory of our long friendship’’. Not a word about the victim of plagiarism, Paolo Longinotti, who in his lifetime would have defended himself well. Consigned to eternal silence, he seemed to have all the guarantees but fate for once decided differently.

Paolo Longinotti, Studies in Classical and Modern Style by I.M.C. in New York.

Paolo Longinotti, Studies in Classical and Modern Style by I.M.C. in New York.

Edmond Leloir, Dix Etudes pour le cor en Fa G. Billaudot, Paris 1981)

Edmond Leloir, Dix Etudes pour le cor en Fa G. Billaudot, Paris 1981)

Photocopying

With the invention of photocopying machines a new form of plagiarism has arisen — fast, cheap copies of a printed score. This illegal practice is now very widespread in the world, to the publishers' great loss. The publishers defend themselves mainly by bringing cases ‘‘to make an example’’ of someone (although these are extremely expensive for those found guilty).¹

Some music colleges push scorn for the law even further by coolly placing a photocopier at the disposal of staff and students. One may ask why these musical institutions have so little respect for the work of the composers or teachers whose employers they themselves often are. When asked for an explanation they usually reply that publishers charge excessive prices. If some publishers do indeed seem to charge excessively inflated prices, it is not for public institutions to pass judgement, much less to commit an illegal act by way of ‘‘punishment’’. By photocopying a score one implicitly recognises that it has a value. That value has been created by someone (the composer) and realised, distributed and marketed by a publishing house. Is it right to ignore the work and investment involved? People's replies to this question will be qualified in various ways according to their conscience. There are degrees of seriousness in theft by photocopy as there are in all crimes.

A typical example

Some years ago a Swiss trombone player (who was perfectly well aware that it is illegal to photocopy sheet music protected by copyright) was preparing, as he always did, a music course for amateur brass players. He thus ordered a number of scores and books of studies on approval from a specialised shop. Imagine the surprise of the shop staff when, a few days later, they received a large parcel containing hundreds of pages of ‘‘musical’’ photocopies taken from these publications.

The musician's wife had put the labels on the wrong parcels and, in sending back the ‘‘approvals’’, had let the cat out of the bag.

Footnotes

¹ There have recently been contradictory rumours about a miracle solution to this problem arrived at in the United States: the invention of a new chemical paper which cannot be photocopied. We do not yet have any confirmation of this.

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