Who owns the music? And for how long?

Thanks to ArtsJournal, an excellent on-line aggregator of arts news from all over the world, here's the first part of a series on how a copyright case to be ruled on this term by the U.S. Supreme Court could affect composers, music publishers and orchestras. In short, this case is about whether it is constitutional for copyright protection of foreign works to be restored to works that previously had been in the public domain (such as those of Dmitri Shostakovich, pictured above). The series also provides insight into some financial matters that audiences don't usually have to think about, such as how much an orchestra has to pay to rent and perform a work under copyright, and where the money goes. I'll hold off on giving my opinion of the matter here. But you are under no such constraint. So, fire away!