Artificial performance of public-domain music

[ArtfulMusic]

Hi, WaveForm newbie here.

Can I use WaveForm Free to make a license-free rendition of public-domain music? For example, if I want to make an animated YouTube video whose music is "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky-Korsakov, can I use Waveform Free to make that music?

Is there a tutorial that can teach me how to do that? If not, can someone tell me what I need to know and what I need to do?

Or, is there a better way to do this?

Thank you.

[Watchful]

Yes, there are no restrictions on what you use Waveform for, including its built-in sounds, effects, or other.

The restrictions come only on the source of your music, but since you're using public domain--and a piece LONG in the public domain--you should have no worries.

I don't give legal advice, but even with public domain music you should be careful about using any previously recorded material in a work: samples, sound effects, bits of recordings, etc., must all be original or be properly handled with the content creators. For example, I can take a very public domain piece like "Row Your Boat," but if I use a violin solo taken from a CD, or sneak in some dialogue from a television show, or background sounds from Pink Floyd, or any other copyrighted material, well, those sources need to be properly compensated, attributed, and/or notified.

In your case, be original with your arrangement.

As for your second question, Waveform is a massive beast of software, and tutorials are out of the scope of a forum like this. There are quite a few Getting Started videos on YouTube for it.

With regard to a "better way" to do this, I'd look at getting a MIDI file of the original work and drag it into Waveform. That'll create all the notes and (if the file was created with tracks) arrangement parts already done for you. All you then need to do is decide what notes play what sounds.

[ArtfulMusic]

Excellent. Very helpful. Thank you.

[fde101]

As was hinted at, another thing to watch out for is the use of arrangements. The song or composition you are using may well be long since public domain, but if you create an arrangement of that work, the arrangement could be copyrighted - so could an arrangement created by someone else.

If you hear something clever that someone did to the work that was not part of the original piece, just because the original work is public domain, does not mean that the clever new thing someone added to it is.

[ArtfulMusic]

Hmm, that's interesting. So what about this? What if I import a midi of the Flight of the Bumblebee (long in the public domain) into Waveform and play around with it and think of a clever modification and use that as background for a video on YouTube, and then it turns out that my modification is similar to a modification that someone else did? Does my modification violate that other person's copyright even though I came up with it on my own?

I guess I might have heard it on the radio a year ago, forgot about it in my conscious memory, but then been influenced by it subconsciously when I made my modification.

So I suppose this means I can never be safe from claims of copyright violation if someone thinks my original work is too similar to something they did and they file a complaint that I copied them. I guess this would be similar to what happens in Hollywood when someone writes a screenplay and then an author clams that it's copied from a book he wrote even though the screenwriter never heard of that book before.

[fde101]

Yes, that is where things start getting a bit more complicated.

[ArtfulMusic]

I suppose the right approach is to not be fixated by fear of that happening and just always post what I know to be original by me, except for underlying public-domain materials. If someone complains and it turns out that what I did is a lot like what they did, then I can offer to either give them a part of any revenue I get or change the music to make it different. I doubt I'd get in any kind of trouble if I'm willing to do those things. And the chances of this happening are probably pretty remote, but it's good to be prepared for the possibility.

Thanks for bringing that possibility to my attention.

[Watchful]

You'd almost have to go out of your way to do so with a piece like this. For example, no one will reasonably accuse you of infringement arranging it for conventional orchestra...but if you arrange it for mariachi coronet like Al Hirt, bass guitar, or tuba...well, those have been done and you'd just be mimicking known recordings...some of which have been copyrighted (like Hirt's version). This what fde101 is pointing out.