Is Rachmaninov a public domain composer?!
Question: The website www.pdinfo.com is WRONG. (Haven't we all learned that you can't believe everything you read on the internet?) Copyright protection is based not on date of publication of musical works, but on the date of the death of the composer. In the US copyright extends for 70 years after the composer's death; in Canada it only extends for 50 years after the composer's death.
This is the official U.S. government website on copyright:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.htm...
Answers: The website www.pdinfo.com is WRONG. (Haven't we all learned that you can't believe everything you read on the internet?) Copyright protection is based not on date of publication of musical works, but on the date of the death of the composer. In the US copyright extends for 70 years after the composer's death; in Canada it only extends for 50 years after the composer's death.
This is the official U.S. government website on copyright:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.htm...
copyrights typically last for the life of the composer + 20 years. so i'm pretty sure he's considered to be in the public domain.
The previous answerer is wrong. Copyright lasts for 70 years after a composer's death and so Rakhmaninov won't be in the public domain until 2013.
Copyright protection used to endure for the life of the author plus an additional 50 years.
Because Rachmaninov died in 1943 he became public domain in 1993 but the copyright law was changed during the late 1990s and 20 years were added to the protection. Rachmaninov was drawn back into the protected zone and wont be available again until 2013.
The earlier works of Rachmaninov are PD. Works from the last 20 years of his life are not.