# Public Domain Music



## ArnoG (Jan 31, 2007)

Anyone Know where to obtain Lists of PD music


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## saxoclese (Nov 30, 2011)

ArnoG said:


> Anyone Know where to obtain Lists of PD music


Here is a good place to start.

Public Domain Popular Songs


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## Dave Dolson (Feb 2, 2003)

You may also want to contact ASCAP and other such organizations . . . I recall a publication from many years ago about tunes licensed by ASCAP. DAVE


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## ArnoG (Jan 31, 2007)

thanks searching exactly what you want WORKED


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## musekatcher (Dec 8, 2015)

Dave Dolson said:


> You may also want to contact ASCAP and other such organizations . . . I recall a publication from many years ago about tunes licensed by ASCAP. DAVE


There is, and cannot be any list of public domain material. Public domain is all material not licensed or copyrighted. Public domain material is discovered every day, that predates the publishing industry. Any definitive "lists" that ASCAP or any other self-serving organization may produce, is not valid. They may publish lists of examples, or specific tunes that have been subject of lawsuits, but there can be no exclusive "list" of public domain - it defies the definition of "public domain".


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## Dave Dolson (Feb 2, 2003)

Jim: I realize that compiling a list of everything in the public domain would be almost impossible. ASCAP (and other such organizations like BMI, etc.) is not a self-serving organization. It represents a group of folks who use ASCAP to represent the group's interests in protecting their music. 

My post was not about a list of public domain material - it was about a list of protected material, the opposite of what the OP was asking about. DAVE


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## saxoclese (Nov 30, 2011)

musekatcher said:


> There is, and cannot be any list of public domain material. Public domain is all material not licensed or copyrighted. Public domain material is discovered every day, that predates the publishing industry. Any definitive "lists" that ASCAP or any other self-serving organization may produce, is not valid. They may publish lists of examples, or specific tunes that have been subject of lawsuits, but there can be no exclusive "list" of public domain - it defies the definition of "public domain".


This is a quote from the link I provided: "Musical Works published with a valid Copyright Notice of 1922 or Earlier are in the public domain in the United States." Although this does not produce an "exclusive list", it can help to provide a list of well known tunes that have a copyright of 1922 or earlier that can be played, arranged, or recorded without having to worry about copyright violations. :bluewink:


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## lutemann (Jan 14, 2009)

Didn't it move to 1923 this year?


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## saxoclese (Nov 30, 2011)

lutemann said:


> Didn't it move to 1923 this year?


You may be right.


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## OwnHeart (Sep 13, 2018)

Not public domain, but similar to it in that it's free to distribute, print, share and record, based on the license. You must attribute the composer and share it on the same terms that you received it..

Go to facebook.com/todaysjazzbook . It's like the real book but composers give a Creative Commons license to the work, allowing it to be like the Real Book but with new compositions, and legal.


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## datsaxman (Nov 28, 2005)

It is the opposite of the Real Book. 

Which is a collection of songs your audience might have heard before.


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## musekatcher (Dec 8, 2015)

ArnoG said:


> Anyone Know where to obtain Lists of PD music


There are lots of sources for public domain music, available with a google search. There is no definitive list, and can't be a definitive list by definition. Public domain is any and all material that has no rights or ownership, and can't be registered or owned. There is music property that may require fees to use, and there is all else. All else is public domain. There is discovery of historic music continuously, that is public domain.


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