Discussion:
I would like to include a small sample of carl orff's carmina burana as part of a flash animation in my website. Is this legal or do I need to pay someone royalties?
Answer:
Printed music published before 1923, or unpublished for authors who died before 1934, is public domain. You may freely use such music. See:
Sound recordings were not protected by copyright law before 1972. State law and/or common law might protect such recordings. However in at least one case, pre-1972 recordings of classical music were held to be unprotected. See:
Unfortunately for you, Carl Orff's Carmina burana was written in 1936 and he lived from 1895-1982. You cannot use this piece on your website.
Choose something else. For example, see:

Answer:
You may wish to contact the musical composers society website, to make an inquiry about this to see what their response might be.