The Music Publishers Association (MPA) has a "Code of Fair Practice" that outlines acceptable uses of printed music by composers, publishers, and educators. This code offers additional guidance on copying music published by their members, which might be helpful for specific situations.
Balancing Protection and Pragmatism: Copyright, Fair Dealing, and Educational Uses.
The chief aim of the MPA Code is to find
the right balance between protection and pragmatism and distinguish between those who violate the copyright in musical compositions for commercial gain or on a significant scale, and those who have more justification for what they do..”
In striking that balance, the code acknowledges the existence and importance of both the Exceptions and Fair Dealing as concepts and spend some time defining Educational Uses and the Graphical Copying of Music.
Educational Uses specified in the code are:
- Performing, playing or showing musical works is permitted in an educational establishment as part of the internal educational activities (e.g. during lessons, for assessment etc) But any performance where there is an external focus and/or commercial element (a performance for parents or a show with entry fee) would require a licence.
- Teachers may also copy extracts of musical works in any medium in the course of their instruction (for example, on a whiteboard) provided it is solely to illustrate a point if they do not use it in such a way or to such a degree as to undermine the commercial market in teaching materials. This exception covers acts of instruction generally (i.e. not just schools).
- The graphic copying of music or any form of graphic reproduction of a printed music publication entails photocopying, scanning and other methods of digital/photographic reproduction as well as the transcribing of music notation by hand or using notation software within the bounds of the permissions given.
The code makes allowances for many use cases.
Some of the prominent ones are:
- Study and Research – This is students or teachers, making copies of short excerpts of musical works provided that they are for study only (not performance). Copying whole movements or whole works is expressly forbidden under this permission.
- Performance Difficulties – e.g. having a second copy of a page of the work due to a difficult page turn, we may make one copy of the relevant part for that purpose without seeking permission. Again, copying whole movements, or whole works is expressly forbidden under this section.
- Orchestra and Band Parts, and Classroom Sets - In the case of works published either for orchestra or for band (but not for smaller ensembles) or in classroom sets copies of extra parts may be made provided that the number made does not exceed a "quarter set" in quantity and provided that the person or organisation making the copies has already purchased one or more sets.
- Emergencies - Music which has been lost or damaged when it is too late to replace it before a pre-arranged concert may be copied provided that a replacement is purchased as soon as possible or, if the work is on hire, the copy made is returned with the other hire material after the performance.