• all rights have expired or
• the authors have explicitly put a work into the public domain
• there never were copyrights

Copyrights

• authors (composer
  Composer
  A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
  
  s, lyricist
  Lyricist
  A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
  
  s) - e.g. CISAC
  Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d´Auteurs et Compositeurs
  Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d´Auteurs et Compositeurs , founded in 1926, is a performance rights organisation, which coordinates the protection of its member creators' rights.As of June 2010, CISAC numbers 229 authors’ societies from 121 countries and indirectly represents more than...
  
   members, AR:SADAIC DE:GEMA
  Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte
  Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte is a performance rights organization from Germany. It is the only such institution in Germany and a member of BIEM and CISAC...
  
   GB:PRS US:SESAC
  SESAC
  SESAC, originally the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers, is the smallest of the three performance rights organizations in the United States. SESAC was founded in 1930, making it the second-oldest performing rights organization in the U.S. SESAC is also the fastest-growing PRO in the...
  
   BMI
  Broadcast Music Incorporated
  Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
  
   ASCAP
• performer
  • mechanical rights e.g. BIEM members (mechanical rights collecting societies) AR:SADAIC DE:GEMA
    Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte
    Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte is a performance rights organization from Germany. It is the only such institution in Germany and a member of BIEM and CISAC...
    
     GB:MCPS
    Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society
    The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society is an organisation that pay royalties to composers, songwriters and music publishers when a composition is manufactured into any format. This includes copies of the music alone such as CDs and downloads, and also products that use the music as a part of...
    
     US:HARRY-FOX
    • BIEM is the international organisation representing mechanical rights societies. Mechanical rights societies exist in most countries. They license the reproduction of songs (including musical, literary and dramatic works). Their members are composers, authors and publishers and their clients are record companies and other users of recorded music. They also license mechanical aspects of the downloading of music via the Internet
  • live performance DE::de:GVL
• publisher e.g. IFPI
  IFPI
  The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
  
   members AR:CAPIF, US:RIAA

See also

• List of public domain tangos
• Copyright Term Extension Act
  Copyright Term Extension Act
  The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended copyright terms in the United States by 20 years. Since the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years for a work of corporate authorship...
  
  
• Wikipedia:Sound/list (not all pd)

• Copyright collective
  Copyright collective
  A copyright collective is a body created by copyright law or private agreement which engages in collective rights management...
  
  
• performance rights organisation
  Performance rights organisation
  Performance rights organizations provide intermediary functions, particularly royalty collection, between copyright holders and parties who wish to use copyrighted works publicly such as shopping and dining venues. Legal consumer purchase of works, such as buying CDs from a music store, confer...
  
  

External links

• Sheet music
  • http://www.musopen.org/sheetmusic
  • http://www.mutopiaproject.org/index.html
  • http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:The_Sheet_Music_Project
  • http://www.imslp.org/