Hidden tunes and terms of use

There seems to be a very wide range of attitudes to intellectual property in folk music. Some would say that the essence of folk music is sharing and adapting tunes, so once someone has written a tune anyone else can and should use it freely if they like it. Others would say that of course the normal rules of copyright still apply, so nothing may be reproduced without permission.

At the Monday Musicians sessions we've taken the view that if we find a good tune then it's reasonable to give a copy to those at the sessions on a not-for-profit basis, without necessarily seeking permission in all cases. We try to credit composers and sources where we can, and any missing information would be gratefully received.

However, publishing the sheets online for anyone to download is a different matter. If a tune is available for sale elsewhere with the owner's permission then we don't want to undermine that, particularly since our version may be slightly different from the composer's version. In these cases we've therefore hidden the tune in the archive, and if possible we've said where you can find it. If there's a tune here that you feel should be hidden, or conversely one that's hidden that you feel should not be, then please do contact us to discuss it. Monday Musicians members can log in to the website to see the hidden tunes.

Terms of use: You're very welcome to play the sheets in this archive, and maybe give copies to your friends, but you may not offer them for sale.