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Shaker Song Arrangement Rights/OwnershipDate: January 22, 2010 by Meagan Smith
 I have a beautiful Shaker melody that I wish my choir to perform. I would like to do a simple arrangment of this melody, adding no original music of my own, simply layering the b section over the a section to create a partner song. Are Shaker songs public domain? If not, does anyone know with whom I should be in contact about permission to do this simple arrangement? I do not intend to publish...just to have my singers perform it.
Thank you!
Meagan Smith
Replies (7): Threaded | Chronological
Craig Hawkins on January 22, 2010 10:50am
Shaker songs ARE public domain. There are no longer Shaker churches in America, or anywhere as far as I know. They all died out, due to a celibacy requirement of the members. Feel free to do what you'd like with the song you've found. What melody is it, if I may ask?
Meagan Smith on January 22, 2010 10:03pm
Thank you, Craig. It is "Mother Ann's Song No. 1," one of the few tunes to be traceable to Mother Ann Lee, I have heard. You have to offset the b section by a couple of beats to make it work, but it's quite lovely, I think.
on January 23, 2010 12:09am
Meagan,
I hate to disagree with Craig, but simply being "Shaker" and whether or not there remain any active "Shakers" have absolutely nothing to do with copyright. U.S. copyright is and always has been based on dates--usually date of first publication plus so many years, but now date of composer's death plus so many years. (This is something of an oversimplification.)
So the question becomes, (a) when was this song first published; and (b) was it published at that time with a legally proper notice of copyright? If you have a source that answers those questions, it might very well be public domain, but don't assume that it is. When you say that you "have" the melody, do you have it on paper with (or without) a copyright notice and date? Or do you just know it by ear?
I do agree that if you have no intention of distributing copies, you are probably safe, but if you want to be completely above board you need to track down the song's history. And I suspect that there are on-line sources that will help you do exactly that. What you need to know is that in the U.S. anything published BEFORE 1923 is in fact public domain.
All the best,
John
on January 23, 2010 5:11am
After looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaker I guess I'm wrong about the state of the present day Shaker movement. But as John says, copyright is all about dates. If, as you say, the song is traceable to Mother Ann Lee, then you are very much in the clear. Here is a website: http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/shakerbooks.htm to start your research.
on January 23, 2010 5:34am
Craig, et al.
There is actually still an active Shaker community in the United States, located at Sabbath Day Lake Maine.
The issue with copyright would not necessarily be the tune, but whether the text that you know was written by someone other than the shakers. If you have a print version, check to see if there is a separate copyright for the text.
You can also check out http://www.shaker.lib.me.us/ for their community.
CJ
on January 23, 2010 10:00am
Meagan,
Mother Ann Lee died in 1784, so anything she composed is most certainly in public domain. No need to worry. All early Shaker repertoire is in public domain. If you are referring to Mother Ann's Song No. 1 as it appears in Daniel Patterson's book "The Shaker Spiritual," there is no way to perform the song without arranging it in some fashion, at least in terms of choosing what syllables to sing, since the song is a textless chant!
Have fun.
Kevin
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