Data Disclaimer

Data transcribed from upstream sources; no warranty; the ledger governs licences

1. What this data is

midicn-lib's data is transcribed and organised from upstream sources; we did not re-enter or re-edit it.

That means quality depends on upstream: accurate there, accurate here — and errors there may be inherited here.

2. What we do not warrant

• ❌ Metadata is not guaranteed accurate — composer, era, catalogue number, key and similar fields may be wrong
• ❌ A file may not match its title — in a few cases the musical content differs from the label
• ❌ Coverage is not guaranteed complete — a given composer's output may only be partly present
• ❌ Licence labels are not guaranteed error-free — see below

3. The limits of licence labelling (important)

We try to state the source and licence per track, but:

Transcription errors are possible on our side. To determine what you may do with a work, its source's original licence is the final authority.

Our rule is "leave blank rather than guess": uncertain fields stay empty rather than carrying a conjecture. Licence fields, however, still depend on upstream metadata quality.

To confirm a specific work: 1. Check the source shown on its page 2. Verify the licence at that source's original publication 3. Contact us if in doubt

4. Why so many fields are blank

You may notice many empty fields (a work with no date, for instance).

This is deliberate:

• We do not fill in guesses (no "circa 1700")
• We do not use vague placeholders (no "Europe", no "Unknown" as filler)
• Blank means: "upstream does not have this, and neither do we"

A blank field is more useful than a wrong one — at least it does not mislead you.

5. About the MIDI files

• MIDI describes performance instructions, not a recording — the same piece can sound very different depending on who made the file
• Quality varies across the library (professional engraving alongside hobbyist transcriptions)
• Playability is checked, but not guaranteed on every device or player

6. Relation to the knowledge sites

midicn.com and the knowledge sites reference tracks from this dataset as teaching examples. Their content is written by us and follows different rules — read each accordingly.

7. Not professional advice

This site provides data and retrieval, not:

• Legal advice (for licensing, contracts, consult a lawyer)
• Musicological findings (the data is a reference; research should return to the original sources)
• Any form of warranty

8. Statements about China

Content concerning China's geography, ethnic groups and music follows the official position of the People's Republic of China (e.g. we write "Taiwan, China", "Hong Kong, China", "Macao, China").

9. Changes and contact

If this disclaimer changes, the revised version replaces this page and is dated.

For data errors, labelling issues or questions: open an issue on our GitHub repository.

This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice.

Sources

• 本站自订声明，据实描述数据集的质量边界

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.