40 seconds of copyright music

[TaseCopterStudios]

A friend of mine says he heard that it was legal to use copyrighted music without permission if you play less than 40 seconds. Does anyone know if this is true?
-Bennett

[Neoproks]

Nope you could still get in trouble

[xsanmdanx]

It's not true. You can't use copyrighted music for even a second.

[FyceDesigns]

How about 0 seconds of copyrighted music? Honestly, you legally can't use copyrighted music, even if craploads of YouTube people do.

[google550]

Although, if you're non-for-profit like NPR or PBS I want to say you can use pretty much anything copyrighted, because you're not making any profits off of it.

Don't hold me to it, it's in the back of my head and it's probably not a great technicality to try and pull in the court room.

[TaseCopterStudios]

great thanks everybody. i just wanted to be sure. I guess i have to stick to the royalty free stuff

[rick3000]

Copyright applies to everyone. Even charity's have to get permission, but since there nonprofit they normally have no trouble getting permission. I like to use Creative Commons music. Basically, you can use that for free as long as you credit the artist, and and it is not for profit. But once you start charging for your movies you have to start paying to use music. I actually used a CC song on my last documentary, it worked out great.

[Ergo Pictures]

It's not true. You can't use copyrighted music for even a second.

That's not entirely true either. 5% total of a copyrighted product is considered fair use.

Try to get permission. It's often not that difficult.

[WesScog]

I don't think that's true, I can't find anything official on partial use of a product being fair use.

You can use copyrighted material and it be fair use under academic, journalistic, research, and parody.

The amount of the work used, and the amount of profit or non-profit involved IS taken into consideration, BUT it doesn't protect your from litigation to begin with, it merely denotes the severity of the litigation.

But like I have said before, having it fit under fair use doesn't protect you from litigation, it merely makes litigation unlikely to happen, and if it does happen it makes it unlikely to be successful, but it doesn't insure it to NOT happen.

Also, if you DO get sued, the burden on proof is on you to show that your usage of the material is covered under fair use.

[rrh]

That's not entirely true either. 5% total of a copyrighted product is considered fair use.No. There is no magic length. It's not 40 seconds, it's not 30 seconds, it's not 20 seconds. It's not 5%, it's not 10%, it's not 3%.


Try to get permission. It's often not that difficult. Yes. Especially if you find lesser-known bands who might appreciate the exposure.

[Ergo Pictures]

No. There is no magic length. It's not 40 seconds, it's not 30 seconds, it's not 20 seconds. It's not 5%, it's not 10%, it's not 3%.

Ah, you're right. I was misremembering an article I read awhile ago. It's a good article to read for those looking to use copyrighted music.

http://www.conejoteenvideofestival.org/copyright%201.pdf

[Fisherking]

No. There is no magic length. It's not 40 seconds, it's not 30 seconds, it's not 20 seconds. It's not 5%, it's not 10%, it's not 3%.

Thank you.

THERE IS NO MAGIC LENGTH WHICH DICTATES 'FAIR USE.'

Again:

THERE IS NO MAGIC LENGTH WHICH DICTATES 'FAIR USE.'

It's covered in title 17, subject one, § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use. From Cornell University Law School (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html):

"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."

Bottom line, if you use someone else's material, regardless of how 'fair' you think it you, you can be dragged to court to justify it.

Besides which, the 40-second rule makes no sense. Some songs are <40 seconds... is it alright to use the entire song? Some songs are >40 minutes, so you can barely use any of them.

[rrh]

Ah, you're right. I was misremembering an article I read awhile ago. It's a good article to read for those looking to use copyrighted music.

http://www.conejoteenvideofestival.org/copyright%201.pdf
Funny how the mind plays tricks. That thing says:
...you can be liable for an infringement action, even if you copy only 5% of another's work.
"5%! That number must be important!" your brain says, "I'll make sure to remember the number but forget the context!"

[mr_goodbomb]

Not true. For Clerks 2, they had to pay something like 11k for a 15-second clip of "No More Horses"... And who gives a fuck about that song?

But, if no one's gonna see it, or it's gonna go up on YouTube... who cares?

[WesScog]

Not many people would, most likely if a copyright holder finds your non-profit video on YouTube, REALISTICALLY the worse that can happen is they simply ask YouTube to remove the video for copyright violation.

BUT, that doesn't meant that they CAN'T press charges, they can STILL press charges and sue you, it's just unlikely to happen, and it's unlikely that they will win even if they do, or if they do win, it's unlikely that the punishment will be particularly severe, especially if you never sold your video or anything.

It's unlikely, stacked on top of unlikely, stacked up on unlikely, but it's STILL not IMPOSSIBLE.

[rick3000]

Especially in a country obsessed with suing people, since no one realizes only lawyers win.

[paradox_qu]

If you need to know about copyright and fair use check this out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

It tell you all about it

[theN]

Even 40 seconds will get you sued.

[dailyproductions]

Check out this website for better help:

http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/publications/statement_of_best_practices_in_fair_use/

They also have an excellent FAQ section:

http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/publications/fair_use_frequently_asked_questions