Talk:Piano Concerto No.4, Op.53 (Prokofiev, Sergey)

How long unavailable?

Hallo.

I notice this page has just been created, but the full score indicated is marked "TB". If I am not mistaken, this doesn't merely indicate a temporary unavailability pending copyright clearance, but means a long-term unavailability because it is already known to be covered by copyright. Is that correct?

If so, does anyone have any idea when this score might be available? Years? This is the only Prokofiev piano concerto whose full score I don't have, and have never even seen - I don't mean just on this web site, or any web site, but in actual printed copies - anywhere. Does it have special copyright problems the others don't have?

Just as a matter of curiosity, if a score can't be displayed for years on this site, why does anyone bother creating a page for it, listing the file for the score, but then marking it as unavailable? Just wondering why anyone bothers to do this. I've noticed it for various scores, including composers like Richard Strauss, Korngold, Berwald, and others who seem to be largely tied up by copyright.

Thanks. M.J.E. 12:03, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

The short answer is we have no idea. There is at present a challenge to the GATT/TRIPs "restoration" provisions of US copyright working its way through the US court system. It could take years - assuming it even gets to the Supreme Court. This piece, like most other Prokofiev works, was public domain in the USA before the 1996 "restoration" for works of foreign composers whose works failed to meet the notice and renewal requirements of US law. That's why one still sees Kalmus reprints of the Soviet scores circulating in used music stores, etc. Carolus 22:29, 3 June 2010 (UTC)