Proper citation style for public domain text
Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:59
I'm currently composing a setting of Emily Dickinson's "To Make a Prairie" for SATB choir. Harvard University Press, which holds the copyright for many of her works has assured me that this poem has indeed passed out of copyright and is in the public domain. Is there a proper format for indicating that a text is in the public domain in the copyright notice at the bottom of one's sheet music?
The permissions and copyright office at Harvard provided me with a preferred credit line, should I choose to cite the poem to a volume of Dickinson's poetry it appears in that they publish, (see below), but no where does that text include the magical phrase "public domain" or "out of copyright." I usually include text in the copyright notice for my compositions specifically giving permission for people to make copies, perform, and share my pieces without liability. I worry that without a specific explainer that this text is out of copyright, people will be fearful about opening themselves up to litigation from a publishing company by passing the score around. I can always add a sentence that plainly states, "this text is out of copyright," but I didn't know if there was a style guide for such things. Thoughts?
Here's what Harvard University Press suggested I use if I cite the work to their edition:
Source: THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON: READING EDITION, edited by Ralph W. Franklin, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1998, 1999 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
I just don't want there to be any confusion as to the legality of using it that worries anyone. It's all above board, I extra-double-checked. I want everyone to know that I extra-double-checked.
Kind regards,
M. Furtak
The permissions and copyright office at Harvard provided me with a preferred credit line, should I choose to cite the poem to a volume of Dickinson's poetry it appears in that they publish, (see below), but no where does that text include the magical phrase "public domain" or "out of copyright." I usually include text in the copyright notice for my compositions specifically giving permission for people to make copies, perform, and share my pieces without liability. I worry that without a specific explainer that this text is out of copyright, people will be fearful about opening themselves up to litigation from a publishing company by passing the score around. I can always add a sentence that plainly states, "this text is out of copyright," but I didn't know if there was a style guide for such things. Thoughts?
Here's what Harvard University Press suggested I use if I cite the work to their edition:
Source: THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON: READING EDITION, edited by Ralph W. Franklin, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1998, 1999 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
I just don't want there to be any confusion as to the legality of using it that worries anyone. It's all above board, I extra-double-checked. I want everyone to know that I extra-double-checked.
Kind regards,
M. Furtak