[Tango-L] Copyright for tango music?

[Sergey Kazachenko]

If I understand correctly, by US law works of art are copyrighted 70
years after the authors' death. Seems that Argentinian law is similar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_copyright_law

So while you might be OK copyright-wise (but not codigos-wise!) with
playing Gardel, most Golden Age era tangos are probably still
copyrighted.

However, rather than "Know and be able to prove that the music is now
public domain" beforehand, I'd rather follow the opposite approach
best summarized in this joke "I once prayed to God for a bike, but
quickly found out he didn't work that way...so I stole a bike and
prayed for his forgiveness". Unless you are making tons of money off
the music (I'm talking using the music in a movie, TV ad or something
like that), I wouldn't bother with copyright at all.
I used to make videos for my town's public TV. The station's director
said - "Theoretically, if you are using music in the clip, you should
get the copyright owner's permission. Practically, even if you are
violating the copyright, they can sue for the share of profits, but we
are free, volunteer-based station anyway".

Sergey