


Reportedly, many of his compositions were composed for an all-female ensemble from an orphanage in Venice, Italy. One of our favourite uses of Mozart ’s music in contemporary film is the use of ‘Requiem ’ in Luc Besson ’s ‘Lucy ’ (2014).Īntonio Vivaldi was a prolific Italian Baroque-period composer, and remains just as inspirational to musicians now as he was during the 18th century. The highly respected composer is the man behind tonnes of instantly recognisable classical compositions, including ‘Requiem ’, ‘Symphony No.40 ’ and the ‘Overture ’ from Don Giovanni.Īs Mozart ’s works lie within the public domain, it ’s not unusual to hear his arrangements used within 21st century productions, usually for dramatic effect. Mozart in the Public DomainĪlmost 230 years after his death, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart still reigns supreme in the realm of classical music. Rather read some composer trivia? Head on over to our fun facts about classical composers article. When we think of classical music, we think of historic composers like Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.Īs these famous composers created their music such a long time ago – we ’re talking centuries – their music is now part of the public domain this may explain why classical music pieces often feature in modern media productions.īelow, we take a look at some of the most famous musicians whose work has entered the public domain, examining how their work has been utilised in modern media productions.

While royalty-free classical music certainly does exist, not all classical music is royalty-free.Īs the name suggests, royalty-free music means that no royalties need to be paid when using the music piece.Īdditionally, it may prove useful to know that when you purchase a piece of royalty-free music, you ’re also obtaining a licence to use the track for the project you ’re looking to use it for. In these instances, the copyright holders are those involved in that particular version of the track. Having said that, recent recordings and arrangements of classical music pieces are not part of the public domain. The reason why many assume all classical music is copyright-free music is that the most famous classical music pieces were created decades ago, hence, they are not protected by copyright law. Photo Credit: Is Classical Music Copyrighted?Ĭlassical music falls under copyright law, just like music of any other genre. Once the copyright expires, the author ’s music enters the public domain.
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How Long Is Copyright on Music?Ĭopyright on music lasts for the entirety of the author ’s life, plus an additional 70 years. If a musical piece has more than one author, the copyright expires 70 years after the last survivor’s death. In the United Kingdom, the copyright on a music track expires 70 years after the author ’s death. Unless the track was created prior to music copyright law or the author purposefully submitted the song into the public domain, music enters the public domain when the author ’s rights expire. Photo Credit: When Does Music Enter the Public Domain? FYI, the author is a term for the owner(s) of the work.Ĭreative work may find its way in the public domain for several reasons most commonly, the piece was created before intellectual property law existed, or the author ’s rights have expired. Thus, work within the public domain can be used by anyone in any way they like, without needing permission from the author. The public domain consists of creative work unprotected by intellectual property law, such as copyright law. Whilst reading, make sure you watch out for links to other relevant articles posted on our editorial page – aptly titled The Edit – and our playlists that are practically brimming with tracks from our catalogue of more than 200,000 tracks. Join us below as we explain the concept of the public domain and why it shares ties with the classical genre. More often than not, this term shares a connection with a particular genre of music – classical music. If you ’re browsing the internet in hopes of finding copyright-free music for your project, you ’ve probably come across the term ‘public domain ’.
