This about copyright came up in the recent kerfuffle about a letter which Meghan Markle sent to her father, and the disclosure (or not) of that letter.
A lawyer put it very succinctly:
“The point about copyright is that it gives control to the person who has the copyright – in this case Meghan – and in those circumstances she can allow people to use the copyright or not use the copyright.”
In my case, I own the copyright of all my re-engraved editions such as for example the new Tecla online Sor New Complete Works for Guitar edition, or the Sor Seguidillas, or English Romantic Songs and Ballads, or Songs for Voice and Guitar. They are modern re-engraved editions with countless details fully and carefully considered and annotated. That means that as the lawyer says, I can allow people to use the copyright or not use the copyright.
But anyone who makes a copy of any of my re-engraved editions, such as a photocopy or a scan, without my permission, is committing a legal offence.
If you did it, you would be in exactly the same position as someone who climbs into an orchard at night and steals fruit.
Don’t do it. Don’t make a thief of yourself. Don’t steal from Tecla – Tecla needs the modest income in order to keep going. So get the music legally, which you now can do easily and cheaply from the Tecla website worldwide online.
