Sheet music and copyright rules for festival performers
Every festival performer in Music and in Speech and Drama gives the adjudicator a copy of their piece. That copy has to be a legal one.
Composers, authors, and publishers hold the rights to their work. The festival follows copyright rules, so every copy on the adjudicator’s table must be one the rights holder allows.
What happens with an unauthorized copy
- Music: an unauthorized copy means disqualification. The performance gets a non-competitive adjudication instead.
- Speech and Drama: the performance gets comments only, with no mark and no scholarship eligibility.
Check your copies before festival week.
Music: what counts as a legal copy
- A score you bought
- A copy with a letter from the copyright holder giving permission
- A downloaded score marked “Public Domain” on every page
- A downloaded score with the purchase receipt attached
- A score from a membership service, with proof of membership
- An IMSLP download, with the full web address of the work written on the first page of every part and copy.
To copy a public domain work, you need confirmation and permission from the publisher.
Music: who needs a copy
The adjudicator needs one. So does every accompanist, director, group, and performer who uses music on stage. Each must have an authorized copy.
Music: transposed songs and page turns
Singers may perform a song in a different key. The original score must still be there.
Photocopies may be used to make page turns easier. The full score and an original copy for the adjudicator must also be present.
Music: prepare the adjudicator’s copy
- Erase pencil marks and notes
- Number the first measure of each line.
When your name is called, hand the book to the adjudicator’s secretary before you walk to the stage.
A reminder about memory: playing from sheet music is allowed, but it costs two marks. Memorizing is encouraged.
Speech and Drama: what to bring
Give the adjudicator the original poetry book, play, or other source, or a copy the copyright holder has allowed. A public domain copy needs confirmation and permission from the publisher.
- Bring a clean copy with no marks or notes
- Hand it in before you perform
- Do not send your pieces with your entry.
Without a copy, the performance gets comments but no mark.
Dance
Dance has its own process. Dancers upload their music to the festival’s Dropbox folder no later than seven days before they dance. Festival backstage staff play the files.
A checklist for the week before
- I have a legal copy for the adjudicator
- My accompanist has a legal copy
- Downloaded music is marked or has a receipt
- IMSLP pages show the web address of the work
- The adjudicator’s copy is clean, with measures numbered.
The full rules are in the general rules of the Music syllabus and the Speech and Drama syllabus. Questions go to [email protected].