Music Education and Copyright Law: Protection of Original Material

l Music educators are continually involved in the creation of original material that is eligible for copyright protection. For the educator in the general music area, this ongoing creative process may consist of writing new lecture material. For those in the instrumental field, the process may center around composing new music for school productions, concerts, revues, or similar events. In all of these activities, questions may arise concerning how the teacher's sole rights to the material he creates are to be preserved for his exclusive benefit. He will