Question Sound copyright?

[george7378]

Hi everyone

I've been wondering for some time, so I'll ask. Is it illegal to include things like sound files from other games, films or TV programmes in your own work (for example, a program of your own) if you distribute the resulting program for free and you acknowledge the original owners? My instinct says no, but I've used programs before which contain things like sounds and quotes from other games.

Thanks.

 

[Urwumpe]

Short and simple: No.

Only allowed if explicitly permitted per license or if you apply fair use, which is pretty hard to do for games.

 

[george7378]

Cool, thanks!

So that means no, it's not legal?

 

[Urwumpe]

Cool, thanks!

So that means no, it's not legal?

In most places of the civilized world not, because of copyright. Which is the right to copy.

 

[Cras]

The issue here (at least in US Copyright law, I can't really speak for other nations, but I would assume a similar principle exists) is Sync Rights. You never have implied rights to take someone else's work and attach it to another work, the argument for this is it gives the impression the artist of that clip supports what you are doing.

There is also the principle of "sampling". You never have the implied right to take someone else's work and cut it up and use only parts without explicit permission. Ask The Verve about this, they learned it the hard way.

It is exceptions to the concept that music is a compulsive permission medium, meaning if you want to "cover" someone's work, they must give you permission (and you in turn must give them royalties, every time, yes even when your band performs it in a dive bar somewhere)

Now, when you use it for commentary, that is a different story. But commentary is a very different beast than satire is. Satire is sufficient change to the work that explicit permission must be given to disseminate it.

Isn't copyright law fun?

 

[jedidia]

Is it illegal to include things like sound files from other games, films or TV programmes in your own work

No. Meaning no, you can't, yes, it is illegal.There are, however, tons of free sound effect libraries out there (although you have to watch a bit that they don't acidentaly include some proprietary sounds). They're usually not the same quality you hear in professional works, mostly for the sake of being free and sound engineering being a very costly process to do professionaly.

Ad there's tons of tips how to produce what kinds of sounds with relatively simple means. Really, in the times of practically unlimited digital editing of sound files, you ca get some pretty decent stuff on your own. Takes a bit of time, though!

 

[marcheenek]

In some cases you can, under [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use"]FAIR USE[/ame] law, when your action will not cause any losses to the owner of the work. In most cases, you just acknowledge the author and mention you using material under "fair use" and e.g. point where the original material can be purchased.
This law is limited to some countries though, like US, Canada, Israel, Poland.

 

[TMac3000]

Does this mean that all fan-made music videos or "AMVs" are illegal. I love AMVs, and have made at least 20 of them myself

 

[Jarod]

For fair use, you can specify your intentions by citing the law,
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/17/1/107

US Code - Section 107: Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair
use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in
copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that
section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting,
teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In
determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case
is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether
such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit
educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in
relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or
value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding
of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the
above factors.

 

[francisdrake]

There are websites with music offered under the creative common license, e.g.:

http://freeplaymusic.com/
http://freemusicarchive.org

My impression after some random listening in is, classical music is quite readily available in good quality, while modern music ranges from quite good to OMG what the ...
Unfortunately no 'popular' modern music is availabe, as it would require paying royalties.

 

[Cras]

Does this mean that all fan-made music videos or "AMVs" are illegal. I love AMVs, and have made at least 20 of them myself

attaching music to video falls under that "Sync rights" issue I mentioned earlier. Yes, it is illegal. You can do under certain circumstances, but generally, if you are making the video public, you cannot do it. However, due to Youtube, and how everyone is doing it, certain publishing houses now will grant the right conditionally (the condition being links to purchase the music are displayed with the video).

And this goes even if you video the actual artist peforming the song. Syncing the audio to something else is something you need explicit permission for. If you are recording your own version of the song, and making only a sound file public, then you do not need explicit permission, because the permission is compulsuary. The artist cannot deny another artist to cover their music, or even do a very different take on it, such as instrumental, change the genre, different instruments. Only when it is used for the purpose of satire does that fall away. Once you try to make money on it, then you just got to send a piece to the artist. And the publishing house will tell you how much that will be.

 

[NovaSilisko]

A good place for lots of sound effects that I use all the time: http://www.freesound.org/

All of the sounds there are user-contributed and under Creative Commons licenses.

 

[Ark]

In some cases you can, under FAIR USE law, when your action will not cause any losses to the owner of the work. In most cases, you just acknowledge the author and mention you using material under "fair use" and e.g. point where the original material can be purchased.
This law is limited to some countries though, like US, Canada, Israel, Poland.

At this point, fair use in the US is fiction. The RIAA can't definitively prove that illegal downloads cost them a single red cent, but that didn't prevent them from getting half a million dollars in copyright damages awarded to them because some college kid shared a couple dozen songs for free.

 

[Quick_Nick]

For games, see audiojungle.net

 

[Linguofreak]

Only when it is used for the purpose of satire does that fall away.

Note that there is a difference between parody (using stuff from a work to poke fun at the work itself), and satire (using the work or parts of it to poke fun at something else). Parody is in fact fair use.

Once you try to make money on it, then you just got to send a piece to the artist.

Not necessarily true. It's certainly harder to qualify for fair use when using something commercially, but it is not altogether impossible.

At this point, fair use in the US is fiction. The RIAA can't definitively prove that illegal downloads cost them a single red cent, but that didn't prevent them from getting half a million dollars in copyright damages awarded to them because some college kid shared a couple dozen songs for free.

Just as fair use is not necessarily non-commercial, non-commercial use isn't necessarily fair use. See the "common misunderstandings" section of the Wikipedia article on fair use. File sharing is generally not fair use.