Licensed and approved material
Only arrange material that AChA has the right to arrange. Copyright in music can cover the composition, the lyrics and specific arrangements, and permission to perform is not the same as permission to arrange. Before you begin work on a copyrighted piece, confirm with the music team that the necessary licence or the arranger’s permission is in place. Public-domain works and material we have written or commissioned are generally safe, but check rather than assume.
What we can and cannot arrange
Some publishers permit arrangement freely, some require a specific licence, and some withhold permission entirely. Treat a hunch as a stop sign: if you are not certain we are cleared, pause and check with the music team before investing time. It is far cheaper to confirm rights first than to shelve a finished score, or worse, to perform something we were not entitled to arrange.
Crediting and record-keeping
What helps: credit accurately on every score, the original composer and lyricist, the source, the licence or permission reference, and your name as arranger with the date. Keep a simple record of what you arranged, from what, and under what permission. Good record-keeping means we can always show our working, reprint correctly, and give proper credit where it is due.
Part of The Orchestrator’s Craft Guide.