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Question about copyright on sound effects.
Hello. I used some sound effects in a game that I published to the play store and just realized that I can't use them since they're from a game show and I don't own the rights to them.
I don't know much about sound design and probably wouldn't be able to make my own unique sounds for it and I can't find some other sounds as good as them that I can use for free. Is there some way that I can edit the sound(change pitch, normalize, give it some more bass etc) so that the sound is more unique and I can't get in trouble with copyright?
Or would I have to find someone who could somehow make the sound from scratch and I would be able to use that instead?
Answer by Jeff-Kesselman · May 11, 2014 at 09:47 PM
Absolutely not. Editing the sound only makes it a derivative work. Its still illegal for you to use without the permission of the copyright holder of the original work.
I suggest you cheek out the web for free and low cost royalty-free replacement sounds.
Creative Commons Search is a great way to start: http://search.creativecommons.org
ok, so no editing allowed.
Thanks for the reply. I was looking for a "Buzzer" sound effect that would work. can't seem to find it.
Here is one...
https://archive.org/details/Buzzer$$anonymous$$p3
The way I found it was by going to that link I gave you above, selecting "use for commercial purposes", selecting Google for the search provider, and typing in "Buzzer $$anonymous$$P3".
I often start with freely available and modifiable sounds and then use Audacity to trim the audio as needed.
Usually get $$anonymous$$e from FreeSound.org, they usually require credit and you have to check the license to see what you can and can't do with the sounds you get.
A while back I spent about $60 on a semi-commercial one disk library. It doesn't have everything I need but its a handy resource for when I can't find it quickly for free on the web. usually there is something I can adapt in it...
Alright, Will look around some more and find something that'll work. Thanks for the help ;)
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