Quick question about music and copyrights

[nooneimportant77]

ok I did just go through like 14 pages of a music thread, but didn't find the answer to this question.

Is there something that goes like this- If I only use 20 seconds of a copyrighted song its ok?

Or did I imagine that the talking horse told me that!?

[GBS]

It's still not okay for nay part of a copyrighted song. You would have to get permission. ;)

[Videopia]

Copyright is very, very easy: if you don't have explicit permission from the owner, you don't have a right to copy it. Or use it. Not even one second. Not even for a good cause. Not even if you won't make any money off of it.

Now, that being said, there are all kinds of fun exceptions (Fair Use), protected speech (parody, criticism) and reusing stuff in completely new artistic ways (samples and loops)... of course the lawyers have a good time with all of this, but, basically, if you don't know whether you can use something or not, you probably can't.

Legally. What you can get away with for your own personal projects is a whole other other thing.

__________________
“Television is like the American toaster, you push the button and the same thing pops up every time.”
-- Alfred Hitchcock
videopia.org (http://videopia.org)

[escapingmyshadow]

how the hell do you get permission!

[cubes]

www.bmi.com (http://www.bmi.com)Maybe this will shed some light on the subject. Also companies tha deal in royalty free music have lisencing clauses depending on how you are going to use the material. www.wavtracks.com (http://www.wavtracks.com),www.shockwave-sound.com.

[Ergo Pictures]

Copyright is very, very easy: if you don't have explicit permission from the owner, you don't have a right to copy it. Or use it. Not even one second. Not even for a good cause. Not even if you won't make any money off of it.

Now, that being said, there are all kinds of fun exceptions (Fair Use), protected speech (parody, criticism) and reusing stuff in completely new artistic ways (samples and loops)... of course the lawyers have a good time with all of this, but, basically, if you don't know whether you can use something or not, you probably can't.

Legally. What you can get away with for your own personal projects is a whole other other thing.

Actually that's not entirely true. For music, you can use up to 5% of the song and it is considered fair use. But with a 3 minute song, that's not much. Best way is to get the rights.

For the stuff that us indy filmmakers do, you can often obtain the rights with no legal or financial hassle, so long as you're making no profit from the venture, and it's not showing on television. Contact the artist and explain how you plan to use the song. It's no guarantee, but many artists are pretty cool about it.

[rrh]

Fair use isn't just about the length. This has some stuff on American laws, where length is only one of four factors considered to judge something Fair Use:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use#Fair_use_under_United_States_law

Things like the twenty second rule come from people who don't understand the other factors and fixate on length as the one and only factor, which is wrong.

I usually use smaller and/or local bands, because they're more likely to agree to have their music in my movie.

[Videopia]

Yea, I've heard 5%, 10%, 20 seconds, but you are right: the other factors are more important. The most important is the purpose, really. For example:

- using 30 seconds of John William's "Indiana Jones" theme in a critique of modern classical composers is protected speech

- using the same 30 seconds in the intro to your action movie is a clear violation of copyright

__________________
“Television is like the American toaster, you push the button and the same thing pops up every time.”
-- Alfred Hitchcock
videopia.org (http://videopia.org)

[Fisherking]

Yea, I've heard 5%, 10%, 20 seconds

Yeah - it's crap. 'Fair use' does not come with a definate cut-off point.

Here: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

"Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered “fair,” such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:

the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
the nature of the copyrighted work;
amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work."Length is a consideration, but there is no magic 'cut-off point,' just the vague notion of 'substantiality.' You can always be taken to court for 'fair use,' as there's no way you can unambiguously ensure your use of x material qualifies as 'fair use.'