Sending music over the 'Net

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> As for the copyright problem, there shouldn't be a problem as long as you 
> don't sell it.

This is incorrect.  If you stole my truck, it would still be considered
illegal for you to distribute it even if you gave it away for free.

Copyrights are designed to protect intellectual property, and
distributing intellectual property without permission is considered
theft.  People make a living by selling this stuff.

The Copyright FAQ can be found on the web at

  http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/Copyright-FAQ/top.html

A much shorter document is Brad Templeton's "10 Big Myths about copyright
explained" available at:

  http://www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.html

An excerpt from this document:

  "If I don't charge for it, it's not a violation." 

      False. Whether you charge can affect the damages
      awarded in court, but that's essentially the only
      difference. It's still a violation if you give it
      away -- and there can still be heavy damages if
      you hurt the commercial value of the property.


The policy here on H-F is not to allow posting of copyrighted materials
beyond reference and fair use unless permission has been granted by the
copyright owner.  If we did allow posting of such material, Tyler, me,
and Bro Robert Brown (who maintains the archives) would all be subject
to criminal and civil liabilities.  And besides that, it's considered
un-Christian to steal :-)

Scanning copyrighted sheet music without the owners permission and
sending it to your friends via email or posting them on a web site are
considered theft.

Richard Masoner