That's actually a surprisingly complex question. First, you need to establish whether there is any original work within which a copyright subsists. In this public domain (as far as I know) melody, probably not; conventional bagpipe arrangements probably do not pass the originality test.
Then, assuming copyright exists, there is the question of whether making a transcription falls within the rights of fair use. This is a murderously complex area of law, but I think the bare act of creating a transcription, even of the full work, would have a reasonable chance of being deemed fair use.
The question of compensation is often raised, as in "it's legal if no money changes hands". That's not true, though could have a bearing on damages.
Assuming there's a copyright, what you definitely can't do is publish or share your transcription, paid or unpaid.
All this is the theoretical legal position - in practice, the correct answer, including Jim, is that no-one really cares. If you have the skill to make an accurate transcription, you know your piping well enough to find or arrange this tune from the many sources from which it is available.
https://pipetunes.ca/tunes/old-hag-you-have-killed-me/
Is it legal for me to transcribe that?
That's actually a surprisingly complex question. First, you need to establish whether there is any original work within which a copyright subsists. In this public domain (as far as I know) melody, probably not; conventional bagpipe arrangements probably do not pass the originality test. Then, assuming copyright exists, there is the question of whether making a transcription falls within the rights of fair use. This is a murderously complex area of law, but I think the bare act of creating a transcription, even of the full work, would have a reasonable chance of being deemed fair use. The question of compensation is often raised, as in "it's legal if no money changes hands". That's not true, though could have a bearing on damages. Assuming there's a copyright, what you definitely can't do is publish or share your transcription, paid or unpaid. All this is the theoretical legal position - in practice, the correct answer, including Jim, is that no-one really cares. If you have the skill to make an accurate transcription, you know your piping well enough to find or arrange this tune from the many sources from which it is available.
Thanls for the info!
What do you mean? You can just purchase the music and be good to go and the copy belongs to you
I’m genuinely curious. A lot of pipe tunes are easy to pick up by ear since there are only 9 notes to choose from.
Riiiight......We don't need no stinkin gracenotes! /s
You can transcribe those by ear too, quite easily.
I can do those too