Is copying permitted?

This is a recurrent question. Here are some elements to answer.

What about scores?

Music scores, for example, cannot be duplicated from a purchased copy when a group should prepare the same work, as it is the case in a choir or in a music course.

Public domain

A work belongs to public domain 70 years after the author’s death—or last co-author’s death—, if it was made public. Some prolongations were negociated for war periodes, patriotic decorations or works that were unpublished before author’s death.

A work belonging to the public domain doesn’t mean copying the score is permitted: the graphic rights of the publisher can still be protected. This means that the work the publisher accomplished to setup the pages of a score, for instance, is still covered by copyright.