Frequently Asked Questions

Legal Questions

Can I use this music?

Of course! That's why we put it online.

The copyright notices looks scary. Will I get sued?

They're long, because they explicitly give you the freedom to play, copy and modify the music. Go here to see what the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license means.

Just remember, if you create derivative works (arrangements, lyrics, recordings) the Share-Alike part applies to those, too.

Won't the owners sue you for copying their work?

Everything here is either typeset from a public domain work, or posted with the permission of the owner.

Actually, I own one of the pieces here.

We did our best, but we might have missed one. Tell us and we'll take it down immediately.

Why endorse Creative Commons, then provide 'source' files in proprietary formats?

While there are graphical notation editors from the free software world, as of 2009 all have severe ease of use problems. Without the freedom to write music, the other freedoms they offer are hardly compelling. The Lilypond and ABC Notation formatting languages are good for copying music, less so for arranging or composing.

LYCO Questions

What is the LYCO?

It's the Launceston Youth and Community Orchestra, a community symphony orchestra based in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. This archive is part of the LYCO Website.

Why have a music archive?

We typeset a lot of music, and thought we could save other people some time.

If you're a symphony orchestra, why all the folk music?

We also sometimes rearrange orchestra parts for different instruments. Most such arrangements may only be used to substitute for parts we already own, so can't be posted here.

Other Questions

If you have a question we haven't answered, send it here.