Perhaps an unorthodox way to get around obtaining a print license to sell an arrangement is to obtain a mechanical license to record the original composition through Harry Fox, record and release that arrangement, then sell the arrangement of that composition in digital form as an adjunct to the sound recording.
Another possible way around obtaining a direct print license from the publisher is illustrated by this excerpt from the below article link.
Arrangements may (possibly) be legal when the arrangements are created by or for a group publicly performing where the group or owner of the performance space has paid for the rights to publicly perform the song. The theory here is that the payment for the right to publicly perform may be viewed as necessarily including the right to make an arrangement for that purpose. Every performance incorporates some arrangement. The “right” to perform a song would be of little value without the ability to express that song in an arrangement.
The Legality of Arranging – A CAPPELLA 101.
