I am making a independent zero-budget movie and I need music for it
and consequently a music license.  I have picked one in particular
Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" (Adagio Sostenuto in c# op. 27/2)
performed by Dubravka Tomsic.  However, I can not afford to pay much
if anything and I do not want to go through the hassle of hiring
someone to play it for me.  So my question is, what is the music
license law regarding this?  The performance was in 1994 if that
matters.  And more importantly, do you know of ANY FREE versions of
this song?  Something in the public domain?  And could you point me to
literature that supports your answer (in case I am asked).  So other
information: I will be submitting this film to ifilm.com and possibly
submitting it to festivals.  It would be ideal if I could get a free
"no strings attached" copy of the song.  Please help.  Thank you in
advance.

Hi,

It seems to me that most modern recorded performances of the sonata
will be owned by record companies which will ask for payment if used
in your film.
However, there are some performances of this piece available at
mp3.com, recorded by lesser known, non-record-industry-aligned
pianists. (Ninety-seven of them according to this search:
http://search.mp3.com/bin/search?section=song_mp3&query=%22moonlight%20sonata%22).
Many independent artists would be overjoyed to have their mucic
included in a film. Perhaps you could try contacting some of them?