The legislative initiative had previously been approved in the last term and was in the discussion phase at the committee level, but following the dissolution of Parliament, the Liberal Initiative (IL) resubmitted it last Thursday in the Assembly of the Republic.
The liberal party’s bill aims to allow exceptions in the Copyright and Related Rights Code for the reproduction of sheet music by philharmonic bands, thereby enabling greater enjoyment of these cultural and musical activities while safeguarding the legitimate rights of authors and publishers.
According to IL, the scores used by philharmonic bands, musical groups, and other cultural entities “are explicitly excluded” from the exceptions provided in the Copyright and Related Rights Code “for the reproduction of works for private or public interest purposes.”
“This exclusion prevents, for example, the use of physical and digital copies of sheet music in environments where the risk of deterioration of the original scores is greater, such as in street concerts or school settings,” the liberals warn in the document.
The party proposes a change to Article 81 of the legal code to allow the reproduction of works “for the exclusive use of the holder, of scores, and their parts, lawfully acquired, when their reproduction, by any means, is intended exclusively for use as a working copy, for study or for the preservation of the respective originals, in educational, academic, associative, cooperative, philanthropic contexts or by public entities, without profit-making purposes.”
Last February, prior to the dissolution of Parliament, deputies approved this IL bill and two other measures on the same subject, presented by the Azores Legislative Assembly (ALRAA) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
The bill presented by ALRAA proposed “enshrining the legality of the reproduction of scores and their parts in educational, associative, cooperative, philanthropic, religious worship contexts, and philharmonic bands, provided they are lawfully acquired.”
The PSD parliamentary group submitted a resolution project recommending that the Government “mediate negotiations between AD-EDIT [Music Publishers and Composers Association] and representatives of philharmonic bands and other entities that use sheet music, and support philharmonic bands in accessing culture and music education.”
The creation of AD-EDIT — Music Publishers and Composers Association, in November 2023 for the collective management of copyright, introduced new licensing and usage conditions for musical scores. This has raised concerns, for instance, among philharmonic bands, schools, and orchestras, as the majority depend on public domain or affordably priced musical scores.
