Public Performance of downloaded scores from musescore
Can I download scores from musescore and perform them publicly. Ta
Can I download scores from musescore and perform them publicly. Ta
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Yes, if it is Public Domain. Else you need the copyright holder's permission.
In reply to Yes, if it IS Public Domain… by Jojo-Schmitz
And the OpenScore projects provide Public Domain scores which are indeed free to download, print and perform.
OpenScore (various instrumentation):
https://musescore.com/openscore/sheetmusic
OpenScore Lieder Corpus (voice and piano):
https://musescore.com/openscore-lieder-corpus/sets
The answer to the question is identical whether you got the scores from musescore.com, from any other website, by purchasing sheet music at a store, or just learned the song by ear. That is, musescore.com plays no role in whether you can perform a song publicly or not.
If the song is public domain in your country (generally, more than 100 years old, but it's not that simple) you can always perform publicly.
If it's not public domain, then it's more complicated. In the US, you can generally perform most copyrighted material in any venue that has a "blanket license" from a performing rights society - most clubs, bars, & restaurants that have live music do this and you'll see ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC stickers in the window making this clear. other countries may have similar setups.
For more information on this, you'd need to do more research into the copyright laws in your particular country, but again - none of it has anything to do with MuseScore. Where you get the sheet music from has no bearing on whether or not it's legal to perform it publicly.
In reply to The answer to the question… by Marc Sabatella
"Where you get the sheet music from has no bearing on whether or not it's legal to perform it publicly."
Absolutely agreed.
What I was offering the OP was links to scores (on musescore.com) which are in the Public Domain worldwide.
In reply to "Where you get the sheet… by DanielR
Yes, and it's a great resource!
In reply to The answer to the question… by Marc Sabatella
What about a MuseScore PRO+ membership? Does the fee cover performing?
In reply to What about a MuseScore PRO+… by Mr_Gamer_Tag
Yes, if it is Public Domain. Else you need the copyright holder's permission.
In reply to No by Jojo-Schmitz
I've attached the song I would like to perform. Do I need to ask for the original writer's permission or the MuseScore writer's permission?
In reply to I've attached the song I… by Mr_Gamer_Tag
You need to ask the copyright holder.
Most likely the original writer