Scenario
You are an aspiring singer/songwriter, and while surfing the Internet, you come across the sheet music for a song you think will display your talents well. You don’t see any notice of copyright on the webpage or the sheet music. You see the songwriter’s name and, after doing some internet research, determine that he has been dead for 22 years. You record a video of yourself singing the song and post it to a YouTube-like internet site. A few weeks later, you receive an email from an attorney informing you that you are in violation of copyright law, and if you do not immediately take down the video, the songwriter’s estate will pursue legal remedies.
What do you think? Did you do anything wrong? Are you in violation of copyright law? Explain.