5

Say a composer read a poem. The poem is the published work of a living poet and obviously protected by copyright. This composer was inspired by the poem, and down the road he has written a piece of music that is his own artistic response to it.

The musical piece composed has no text (it is an instrumental work only), and any connections to the poem that inspired it exist solely in the composer's imagination.

At this point, is the composer's work derivative of the poem?

And if the composer indicates in program notes, discussion with the performers, an interview, etc. that it was inspired by that specific poem, does that then make it a derivative work?

And I'm assuming that were the composer to desire titling his work with the same title as the poem, that would definitely be derivative, and require permission?

nuggethead
  • 1,233
  • 10
  • 21

1 Answers1

8

No

Copyright protects expressions of ideas but not ideas. A song with the words if a poem set to music would generally require the permission of the owner of the copyrighted poem. An instrumental score “inspired by a poem” would not remotely be using the same expression, or a derivative of, the poem.

Titles are not subject to copyright and there are many books with identical titles. Try “The Gathering Storm” as a book title.

George White
  • 13,339
  • 2
  • 27
  • 60