Using music in my trailer, illegal?

[portfoliobuilder]

I hate to keep inundating you guys with legal questions, but so far your responses have been good and helpful. I created a trailer video for a videogame I am creating. Like all videogame trailers, I want to use "epic music" (the genre of music coined because of its heroic and adventurous sounding nature). So here is my question, lets say I want to have Lord of Rings soundtrack play over my trailer, is that OK? Or do I have to somehow seek permission from the composer?

I see all around youTube people who have added these sorts of songs to their youtube videos with seemingly no conflict or issues. I tried to look up the answer, but the answer I found (look below) does not seem to fit what I see on youtube. There are tens of thousands of videos on that forum that overlay music that is not theres. Some even remake songs and then sell them on itunes. So what is the real rule?


What is copyright?
Copyright is a form of legal protection automatically provided to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works.

U.S. copyright law generally gives the author/creator or owner of an original creative work an exclusive right to:

Reproduce (copy) or distribute the original work to the public (e.g., create and sell copies of a film)
Create new works based upon the original work (e.g., make a movie based on a book)
Perform or display the work publicly (e.g., perform a play)
Violation of one of these rights is called copyright infringement. However, the use may be authorized by copyright limitations (such as fair use) described below.

[Harold Mansfield]

The rule is pretty simple. If you didn't create it, own it, license it or otherwise have the right to use it then it is illegal for you to use it, especially for commercial purposes.
Don't get caught up in what other people seem to be getting away with. Just make sure that YOU follow the law and the rules.

You can license or buy music tracks pretty easily online, in just about any genre. There's even 100's of titles that are in the public domain that you can also use freely.

Plainly, if you use other people's music without thier permission, you take your chances. You may get away with it or you may get sued. Bottom line is, it's not yours.

[nealrm]

I am going to add to what Harold said, If you are using someone else's work without permission it is stealing. This applies to all created works; photos, music, graphics, drawings, sculptures, code .... How would you feel if someone was to take your game, package it and start selling it without paying you or getting your permission??

Just so that you know, the civil liability for violating another's copyright by mistake starts at $1000. The amount can increase upto actual damages. For willing violating another copyright the civil liability starts at $10,000 and increase from there.

I agree with Harold, just because other are stealing, doesn't mean you should or that it is OK.

[portfoliobuilder]

This applies to all created works; photos, music, graphics, drawings, sculptures, code .... How would you feel if someone was to take your game, package it and start selling it without paying you or getting your permission??

I understand stealing someone's music. But I guess where the confusion came in is that I am not selling the music, the music is not in my product or part of my product. The music is just background music to a 1 minute monologue. No financial gain at all. But I guess if the law covers that, then I will try to hunt down the creator to see if I can have it in my video. Thanks!

[Harold Mansfield]

I understand stealing someone's music. But I guess where the confusion came in is that I am not selling the music, the music is not in my product or part of my product. The music is just background music to a 1 minute monologue. No financial gain at all. But I guess if the law covers that, then I will try to hunt down the creator to see if I can have it in my video. Thanks!
It's illegal if you don't own it or have permission to use other people's stuff. Your intention and "I just want to...." doesn't matter. There is SOME leeway when it comes to editorial, satire, and news, but copyright holders file suit all of the time on people who think they are protected by that. And a minute falls far outside the lines of using it for that purpose. Usually you can get away with seconds. Like 5.

Just buy your own music or license what you want to use. Why are you so intent on using someone elses music? Is your product an add on or derivative of theirs?

[Brian Altenhofel]

It's really as simple as contacting the publisher and finding out if they'll license it for your purpose and how much...

[portfoliobuilder]

Just buy your own music or license what you want to use. Why are you so intent on using someone elses music? Is your product an add on or derivative of theirs?

No, I didn't ask this question so much because of my intent, I know I worded it as such. Thank you for your response. I was just trying to get a better understanding. I see what you are saying, but I think this law gets confusing when, for example, someone on youtube creates their own (they recompose instrumentals) version of a known song. It is their interpretation, to me I would think that this makes it also their works of art. But what happens when they did not receive permission to create their own works of art of that song, and I want to use the newly created works of art? Who to ask in that situation?

I get what you are all saying, but regardless, this law is not so cut and dry. But I think I have enough information to stay on the safe side of law now. Thanks for all your responses.

[Harold Mansfield]

No, I didn't ask this question so much because of my intent, I know I worded it as such. Thank you for your response. I was just trying to get a better understanding. I see what you are saying, but I think this law gets confusing when, for example, someone on youtube creates their own (they recompose instrumentals) version of a known song. It is their interpretation, to me I would think that this makes it also their works of art. But what happens when they did not receive permission to create their own works of art of that song, and I want to use the newly created works of art? Who to ask in that situation?

I get what you are all saying, but regardless, this law is not so cut and dry. But I think I have enough information to stay on the safe side of law now. Thanks for all your responses.

No, it's not confusing. You just don't want to believe that there isn't a loophole to squeeze through because in your eyes it looks like everyone's doing it. I read exactly how you wanted to use it and the law is pretty cut and dry. You want to use someone elses music to promote your video game. You can't do that. It's unauthorized use and against the law. They have legal rights against you doing that, just as you will have rights against someone taking code, sound, art, or characters from your game to use in their stuff.

You can't compare yourself to You Tube. In case you haven't noticed they have affiliations and deals with iTunes, Amazon and most of the major record labels and movie companies. They probably pay reduced royalty fees for the videos that they have to avoid massive lawsuits for unauthorized work. You may be too young to remember this, but You Tube used to fight lawsuits from record labels and artists all of the time. Who knows what other legalities have been hashed out but apparently some agreements were made simular to what radio stations used to pay to play music on the air.

But we are talking about you. You want to use someone elses music to promote your product. And I'm telling you that without their permission it is illegal. It's not confusing. It has nothing to do with You Tube. It's pretty cut and dry. It's not yours and you have no right to use someone elses work.

Respect that, just like you are going to want people to respect your rights to your video game.


I can't speculate on what someone else does or whether or not you'll get away with it.

[markhendricks]

Don't use copyrighted material without written permission. And you should assume that all materials are copyrighted.

Do a search on your favorite search engine for: royalty free music

This does not mean it's free, it means you only pay once then you get to use it without ongoing royalty payments.

As always, my best to you --

Mark Hendricks