Modern music

[GrantOlson]

I think the reason we have to think about all these laws now is that nowadays everyone uses music as a way to make money. This isn't really a bad thing, but it means everything is different. As KenH said, 100 years ago people would freely use each other's music to make their own. To them music was for fun. So the kind of music we can create now is a little different than it was then. We can't make a variation of just any song we want to, or at least not if we want to play the music for people or publish the music.
Grant

[rendesvous1840]

The copyrght includes melody as well as lyrics. In the USA, the copyrght lasts 75 yeas after the death of the composer. If you make recordings, pay the fee, it is required by law. When you perform in a venue, the owner of the venue is responsble for the fees. Best bet for tabs is to buy a music book with the songs you want. Google DulcimerTab Books and see what is available. The author or publsher is responsible for paying the copyrght fees. This is no doubt reflected in the price of the book, but if you buy any book this is true. Not all songs will be available in dulcimer tab, so for some songs you may have to buy standard sheet music and convert it to tab. You can also look for music books in your local libraries, and use them to make tabs. This is a grey area, as it may , or may not, qualify as fair use to make a tab for your own learning. Fair use is also oart of copyright law, and is exempt from fees. The odds of getting caught making tab from a library book in your own home is probably pretty unlikely. Unless your spouce works for one of the rights organizations.

[rendesvous1840]

The first copyright on Old Rosin The Beau was issued in Dublin about 1800. It was copyrighted in London shortly after, and in the USA within a few decades. The composer apparently felt his work was worth protecting as far back as 1800. Copyright laws go back a lot further. US copyright law was revised in the 1920's, and A.P. Carter learned to use it to his advantage, copyrighting songs that were never copyrighted by their composers, and creating derivitive works of songs on which the copyrights had expired. Those songs we find in the public domain may not all have been copyrighted originally, but many were. Those copyrights have expired, but that doesn't mean they never existed. The laws have been revised again, partly at the urging of lobbyists working for entertainment companies such as Disney, who use the laws to keep their movie characters and songs earning money for their corporations. The idea of naking money with music spread rapidly after the late 1920's revision, but it existed among those who knew about it far earlier.

[rendesvous1840]

Harrison lost the My Sweet Lord case. John Lennon lost the Come Together lawsuit initiated by Chuck Berry. And due to not having a lawyer advise him before signng the contract giving away the rights to his compostons with Creedence Clearwater, John Fogarty was sued by his former manager for plagiarizing his own compositions. There be sharks in those waters!

[JoeBesse]

What a Catch 22 this has become. Pretty soon we will have to pay someone just to take our dulcimers out of our house. To much PC going into music now.

Joe

[Dulcijan]

... (movie films are excluded from paying royalties).

Film and TV do not pay (music) royalties because they pay big licensing fees to owners of copyrighted (registered with LOC) music they use.

Generally speaking, music dated before approximately 1922 is Public Domain. However, one must be cautious. Many copyrights have been done on updates of Public Domain music.

When doing a modern song for a church or non-profit program I ask permission from the copyright holder and let them know I am converting their music to dulcimer tab. The ones I have asked have been ok with that (especially if I buy a copy their SMN). Also, most churches pay CCLI on a regular basis. CCLI permits church choirs and musicians to use copyright music for their church programs.

[Casper]

You must figure out the copyright issues and decide for yourself. Many feel the instruction exception allows one to make teaching videos. It isn't simple. Normally one would think that unless you are costing them money they won't waste time with you. However I did notice that one video I downloaded, Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1975 doing Freebird at the Oakland Coliseum was deleted from youtube. I wouldn't think anything from 1975 no one would care about but I was wrong.

With that in mind consider looking at the stick dulcimer and Merlin Seagull videos on youtube. These are guitar-style dulcimers usually in DAdd. The only difference is the double string on the stick dulcimer is furthest away from you and on lap it is closest.

I will get you started with two channels I like. The first fellow is a lot of fingerstyle...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28fxJ ... ZI7-ATJrvQ

This guy is more strumming and singing...he also does ukulele videos so check to see you are on the right playlist.

https://www.youtube.com/user/sirant

These two, and many others with the strumstick and Merlin Seagull do the kinds of music I think you are looking for.