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Audio copyright questions and etc.
hi i have some questions about copyright issues. i am making a 2.5D topdown shooter and i want to add some audio tracks and i don't know if i have to do anything like say the name of the band etc. any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
Answer by Cyclops · Jun 22, 2010 at 03:43 PM
If you're looking for good, free music, there's Where can I find music for my game?
Otherwise, anything that is copyrighted, requires the copyright owner's permission to use - regardless of whether you intend to make money with the project or not. There are certain very limited exceptions, like Fair Use, but that generally only applies to educational projects that use short excerpts of the material, not an entire piece.
Granted - if you aren't making money, the copyright owners probably won't come after you - but that's not the same as saying they can't legally.
It does also depend on the country - if you're in the US or other Berne Convention signatory countries, then definitely you need permission. I know there are some users in countries like Iran, and I don't know what the agreements are between those countries and the US.
RIAA goes after YouTube.
RIAA sues the Girls Scouts.
Granted, they dropped the lawsuit after massive negative publicity, but still.
Srry I made a big mistake. Everything I have said here applies to canada. For some reason I assumed you were canadaian. So if you move to or live in canada then the rules I have stated are completely true.
I'm not sure why my Answer got downvoted - feel free to comment if something is wrong, whoever. And as to the tone of my post - I'm not trying to screw with the OP - I'm trying to help, by keeping him from getting sued. Even companies which won't sue a small project, might send a cease-and-desist letter, if they see their assets being used, causing the OP to have to re-do the project anyway.
Answer by Pirate___man · Jun 22, 2010 at 03:20 PM
It is illegal to sell any product with another band's lyrics even if you include there name unless you ask them and get a signed permission slip. But if you are not planning to make even a dime off of your game than it is perfectly legal, though it is nice to include the bands name. I'm not sure if these rules apply if you are putting your game on the internet though... Here is a wiki site about copyrighting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright#Copyright_enforcement
But if you really want to stay clean you should compose your own music that way you won't "accidently" break any laws. Hope this helps!!
Note: These rules only apply in Canada!
thanks i don't plan on selling my games so thats cool thanks :)
"If you are not planning to make even a dime, then it is perfectly legal" - wrong. Sorry to say, but whether you make money off a project has no bearing on whether you can include copyrighted material.
Actually it does. If you look at the copyright laws under close scrutiny they say very clearly that it is legal to put music in your work as long as you make no money from it, own a copy of the original music, and do not distribute the source file. If your giving a friend a disk that has the music file on it than its illegal, but as long as the music file is not accessible than it is perfectly legal.
@Bryma, owning a CD is not the same as owning a copy of the original music. Even owning a CD, there are things you are not legally allowed to do with it - like public performances - or make and distribute copies. And I'd like to see that section of the copyright laws you're quoting, maybe put it in your Answer.
Ah, just saw your comment about Canadian laws. If you edit your Answer to indicate that, I'll remove my downvote, since it would then be correct - for Canada. :)
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