As with other areas of copyright law, should you wish to make arrangements of music for brass band or brass ensemble, you need to seek permission to do so from the rights holder. This includes making any changes to the melody, harmony, rhythm or instrumentation. [7]
Unless there is a clear exception to the copyright (those exceptions are covered in the 'Can I make copies of printed music?' resource) you will need to seek the publisher's permission or obtain a suitable licence.
Contacting the publisher directly
You can write directly to a publisher to ask permission. For most publishers, you will be able to search online for their details, and they will often have a request form or specific page for information on permissions on their website.
ArrangeMe
ArrangeMe, owned and operated by Hal Leonard, is a global platform designed to enable songwriters, composers, and arrangers to sell their arrangements of popular songs, public domain works, and original compositions through the world's most popular sheet music retailers.
The ArrangeMe platform handles all permissions to arrange a work with no membership fees, distribution fees, or publishing fees required to participate. However, importantly it does not handle performance permissions and licensing. Bands should still reach out to the publishers for permission to perform works purchased via ArrangeMe.
Arrangers can then sell their creations and earn money for every piece of music sold, while ArrangeMe handles logistics including distribution, commission payments, and copyright of the arrangement. Whilst a great solution and ideal for arranging songs (there are 5,000,000 copyrighted songs available to choose from!), your arrangement must be publicly available to purchase only through the ArrangeMe affiliated sites (Sheet Music Plus, Sheet Music Direct or Noteflight), and it is only valid if purchased via this site (i.e. you would have to purchase your own arrangement for it to be valid.)