Dear Texoma members,
I am writing you to information of a change to the NATS Copyright Policy that was approved by our board this summer. I was delighted to vote in favor of this change. This information will also appear on the Texoma website shortly.
The underlying premise is that primary responsibility for following copyright law, as the result of recent court rulings, is being transferred from NATS to teachers, singers, and pianists. With our new copyright policy and teacher/student/pianist copyright acknowledgements, it is NO LONGER NECESSARY to check for original scores at NATS events. Furthermore, the the use of iPads and tablets as musical scores for collaborative pianists during all levels of NATS auditions has been approved, and they are held to the same standards of copyright as any other musical score used for auditions.
NATS still encourages its members, their students, accompanists and the general population to become educated about, and to comply with, all applicable copyright laws. Reproduction of a copyrighted work constitutes copyright infringement unless a license to reproduce such work has been obtained, the use is considered fair use, the work is in the public domain, or a valid exception to copyright infringement exists.
NATS requires students, teachers and other participants in NATS affiliated events, auditions and competitions to affirm compliance with the NATS Copyright Policy, and to use only authorized reproductions of copyrighted works. NATS members, singers, and pianists will need to affirm that they will only use legal copies of music during NATS events as part of the registration process. Entrants will not be able to compete until they and their pianist complete this copyright acknowledgment.
For additional information:
- NATS Copyright Resource Center
- NATS Commonly Asked Copyright Questions for Teachers, Accompanists, and Students
Additionally, I am writing to confirm that Summer Program Auditions will be occurring at this year’s conference. You can find additional information about them at our website, texomanats.org. As a reminder, unlike most of the other aspects of the conference, students will register themselves directly at https://www.auditionware.com/texoma/spa.php. Registration for SPA opens tomorrow, September 2.
Sincerely,
Randall Umstead
Texoma Region Governor