Copyright Music Suggestions

[Ravani Lestari]

Say you just wanted to make a demo featuring what you want your area themes to sound like, battle themes, etc. How would you go about uploading a demo but also abiding to copyright laws?

For example, say for a desert area, I used a desert theme from a sonic game. Would you put it in the credits even if you are temporarily using the theme?

I suppose my question is more along the lines of: Is a demo that is uploaded considered commercial use?

 

[Akod]

It wouldn't be considered commercial use unless you intend to make profit off of it. You should be fine uploading the demo for the reason you stated.

 

[Micro]

I think you're fine, don't worry.

 

[Ravani Lestari]

Alright, thank you for answering. :) This means I should have a demo of Project Levin for you guys soon.

 

[Macro]

The cold hard truth is that you shouldn't release a demo with copyrighted music in it unless you have permission. Chances of getting in trouble are small, but yea, just giving the most correct answer here.

 

[Ravani Lestari]

The cold hard truth is that you shouldn't release a demo with copyrighted music in it unless you have permission. Chances of getting in trouble are small, but yea, just giving the most correct answer here.

Yeah, that is what I was thinking. I knew that even if a demo isn't for commercial use, anything that can be downloaded by other people would break copyright laws. As far as using them in the game for my own ears, that is a different story.

 

[MinisterJay]

I am currently tutoring a few undergraduate Criminal Justice students, and a few Law School students. Here is what it really boils down to. With a lot of copyright law issues, it sort of comes down to risk vs. reward. There are all sorts of things you could do and probably get away with that aren't legal, if you want to take that (however small) risk. If you want to stay within the limits of copyright law, that's another matter.

 

[Ravani Lestari]

I am currently tutoring a few undergraduate Criminal Justice students, and a few Law School students. Here is what it really boils down to. With a lot of copyright law issues, it sort of comes down to risk vs. reward. There are all sorts of things you could do and probably get away with that aren't legal, if you want to take that (however small) risk. If you want to stay within the limits of copyright law, that's another matter.

Exactly, I want to avoid even the small risks. There is a possibility that I could distribute the demo of my game with the temporary music in it, and run the risk of someone downloading that demo, which then they can distribute. Eventually the companies will catch up if it gets too widespread and I could face legal issues.

 

[MinisterJay]

There is a lot of awesome music at soundcloud.com , and some if free to download and use . Even then I still notify artist of when I use their music. :)

 

[Ravani Lestari]

Yeah I have a few tracks on soundcloud that I made :) https://soundcloud.com/ravani-cahaya-lestari Though I'm not as great as the boyfriend. lol

Edit: After listening to my old tracks, I want to make music again but it isn't quite my forte. lol

 

[Zebestian]

I wonder... do you know of Kevin MacLeod? He's pretty much the source of royalty-free music on the internet. You hear his work in all sorts of Youtube videos, podcasts and things like that. Maybe you can find something there. :)

 

[Ravani Lestari]

I wonder... do you know of Kevin MacLeod? He's pretty much the source of royalty-free music on the internet. You hear his work in all sorts of Youtube videos, podcasts and things like that. Maybe you can find something there. :)

That name does sound familiar! Though I took it upon myself to make my own music for everyone to use here. It might not be the style everyone wants, but it fits my game pretty well, and when I have a demo, you'll see how well it fits the game's atmosphere. :)

 

[Companion Wulf]

do you know of Kevin MacLeod?

He is THE royalty-free music resource. Hands down. Good quality music as well. And an all-round super cool guy!

 

[Ravani Lestari]

He is THE royalty-free music resource. Hands down. Good quality music as well. And an all-round super cool guy!

He is doing what he loves, and it is apparent that it isn't all about the money, though he could definitely make a lot. I suppose he is well known because his work was royalty free to begin with. He may actually have a few people paying him to create custom tracks for them.

 

[Companion Wulf]

He may actually have a few people paying him to create custom tracks for them.

I believe he does. He makes quite a bit from it and from donations. I've donated quite often to show my appreciation, as I've been using (and listening to) his music for years now. His philosophy is basically that not everyone can afford the high costs of custom music for their games, films, etc. so he decided to use the CC/royalty-free approach to be able to reach out more to those kinds of people or organisations whose budget is limited.

 

[Ravani Lestari]

I believe he does. He makes quite a bit from it and from donations. I've donated quite often to show my appreciation, as I've been using (and listening to) his music for years now. His philosophy is basically that not everyone can afford the high costs of custom music for their games, films, etc. so he decided to use the CC/royalty-free approach to be able to reach out more to those kinds of people or organisations whose budget is limited.

I can respect anyone who does stuff like that. Donations do help but are not required. Though, I do wonder how he started doing this if he has to make a living. I only contributed my music because I have other plans as far as my music direction goes for my full game. In a sense, it's more like hand-me-down music, but I did spend quite a bit of time on the tracks.

 

[Companion Wulf]

They do indeed. From what I can gather he does make a decent amount of money from it all. His prices are quite reasonable too if you want the standard-licence no-attribution piece for your game. If I remember right the movie Hugo featured one of his songs. He's even getting a documentary, Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod, coming out next year, definitely worth watching in my opinion.

 

[Macro]

I wonder how music generators come into play here? Non-commercial ones of course. I'm guessing one would just need to credit the actual program used? But if so, then shouldn't that mean we should, for example, credit Adobe for making Photoshop? Why would music be more special than graphics? Credits seem like they can get pretty convoluted.

 

[Companion Wulf]

What I usually do is credit the software (more to try and cover all options). So, I'd put Adobe Photoshop or GIMP as the graphics editor I used. It's probably better, if a little superfluous, to err on the side of caution, but it's up to individuals. For me, the most important accreditation is for the creators of the resources used. That said, it's equally important to read those creators' credit requirements; most are commonly "Put my name in the credits if you use my stuff", but some have additional requirements that are sometimes overlooked.