What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

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What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby linda411 » Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:58 pm

I see that here was some discussion years ago on this subject but I didn't get much information. I have been making shows for family members since 2008. This year I was asked to make a show for my 40th class reunion.
I used popular songs (Kenny Loggins, Kenny G, the eagles) all from my CD library. Does anyone have a source that can explain clearly the copyright laws. Can I show this at the reunion legally?
Someone on the committee also brought up giving copies away or selling them for $5 to cover the cost of the DVD , as a 'take home' momento of the reunion. Would that be a violation if the DVD is burned with a copy guard?

Today the convalescent center I work at asked me to do a show for the 125th gala.
I would love to do this...and for free...just want it to be legal. I looked up royalty free music and it certainly is not free. I went to musicbakery and other sites...there is a fee for the songs.

Please advise or post a link where I can get the answers to the copyright laws. I'm really stressed out about this. :shock:

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby pilotdan63 » Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:37 pm

Linda . . . scroll down to the music forum section and type "music copyright law" in the query search window and you will be able to read all the information that has been shared on this forum about this issue :wink:

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby debngar » Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:53 pm

The short answer is no. The long answer is in the archives as pilotdan said.

For what it's worth, Royalty Free music isn't necessarily free but means once the user has a license to use that music they don't typically have to pay further royalties to the artist etc. But those terms of use vary from song to song.
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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby gpsmikey » Fri Mar 16, 2012 8:06 pm

To add a bit to what Debbie said, even Royalty Free stuff you get from the same vendor may not have the same license. SonicFirePro (SmartSound) has much of their stuff with a very liberal license on it, but there is some of it that is only licensed for home/personal use (some of the old TV show soundtrack stuff). You do need to pay attention to what the license terms are to stay legal.

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby DickK » Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:06 pm

Linda,

linda411 wrote:I used popular songs (Kenny Loggins, Kenny G, the eagles) all from my CD library. Does anyone have a source that can explain clearly the copyright laws. Can I show this at the reunion legally?
Someone on the committee also brought up giving copies away or selling them for $5 to cover the cost of the DVD , as a 'take home' momento of the reunion. Would that be a violation if the DVD is burned with a copy guard?

The general answer is here:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8583

Some issues are also covered here:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8758

As Debbie said, the short answer is no. Purchasing the CD basically allows you to listen to it for your own private purposes--anything else is covered in the "All other rights reserved" printed on the CD. If you do any of what you've described, you will infringe the copyright of the music rights holder and playing the show as you've described is likely to violate the "no public performance" portion of the license you hold as a purchaser of the CD.

linda411 wrote:Today the convalescent center I work at asked me to do a show for the 125th gala.
I would love to do this...and for free...just want it to be legal. I looked up royalty free music and it certainly is not free. I went to musicbakery and other sites...there is a fee for the songs.

Royalty free has nothing at all to do with the cost. It just means that, for instance, you won't be required to pay a fee (a royalty) for each DVD you make with the show and music on it.

linda411 wrote:Please advise or post a link where I can get the answers to the copyright laws. I'm really stressed out about this. :shock:

There are hundreds or thousands and there isn't one with nice, simple answers. There can't be because the whole thing is complicated and depends very much on exactly what question you are asking. Technically, only an lawyer can render an opinion regarding whatever question you have, but in practical terms, any use of almost all commercial music will infringe the copyright unless you negotiate and purchase an appropriate license (and that's virtually impossible or too expensive with any major recording company).

Search the forum and you'll find lots of threads dealing with finding free music you can legally use. There's a lot out there for free and a lot more for purchase--including at one point from Photodex. Regardless of the source or price, the crucial thing you need is the right to use the music in any way you want without another fee.

Dick

Caveat: This information is the opinion of it's author and does not constitute legal advice of any kind. Risk associated with the use or misuse of this information is entirely the responsibility of the reader. If these issues are important to you, consult an intellectual property rights attorney.
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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby BarbaraC » Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:11 am

Just a side issue:"Royalty-free" seems an unfortunate term. Even if it means free OF royalty, there's no reason to expect everyone to know what a royalty even is, and so they naturally focus on the "free" part of the description. "Without royalty"? "Non-royalty"? I've no idea what would work better, but the current term confuses lots of people. :(

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby linda411 » Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:07 am

Thank you everyone....I am totally against distribution of my shows that I make for personal reasons. The committee thought they could just give people a copy as a momento upon leaving the reunion. With your help, I now have the information I need to shoot down their request with more information than I had when I was 'caught off guard'. I fully respect all artists rights. So now I am going forth to search out the royalty free music....because shows that I want to persue are for the people at the convalescent center I volunteer at They need and want this type of stimulation...I will persue shows for them...free...but also want to abide by the law when it comes to showing them. I'm guessing showing the show has the same laws as distribution. ? I have been asked to create a show for their 125th Anniversary Gala...and before I begin that vast amount of work...I want to know what the laws are regarding presenting the show.

Again Thank you!

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby BarbaraC » Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:20 am

I'm guessing showing the show has the same laws as distribution. ?

You're guessing correctly. It would be a public performance, though I must admit it doesn't sit very well with me when its only purpose is to bring joy to those who aren't well. And if they're elderly, there's nothing they love to hear more than those old-time (copyrighted) songs. :(

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby Astra » Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:12 pm

Linda,
for Royalty-Free music - I would suggest to look into SmartSound Web site:
http://www.smartsound.com/index.html

Also my advice - and as a reaction on your comment:
".... The committee thought they could just give people a copy as a momento upon leaving the reunion. With your help, I now have the information I need to shoot down their request ..."
Dont "shoot" the request - use it for your own benefit, even as free advertising and possible source for new future customers .....

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby debngar » Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:44 pm

Astra wrote:Linda,
for Royalty-Free music - I would suggest to look into SmartSound Web site:
http://www.smartsound.com/index.html

Also my advice - and as a reaction on your comment:
".... The committee thought they could just give people a copy as a momento upon leaving the reunion. With your help, I now have the information I need to shoot down their request ..."
Dont "shoot" the request - use it for your own benefit, even as free advertising and possible source for new future customers .....

Alex

I finally invested in a few CDs from SmartSound and can vouch for their music too. I used it quite a bit last year. But I always check each song to make sure I can use it the way I need to else I have to find something else that will do.

"Royalty Free" songs with vocals will often cost more for the license to use or else be more restrictive in Terms Of Use.
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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby DickK » Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:05 pm

I've got a bunch of CDs I got from Digital Juice (Backtraxx Library) that I use -- some excellent tracks and some not. But I like the fact that most have various length versions. I also got a few from FootageFirm -- harder to use than the Digital Juice stuff but useful. Neither of those was free but both are unrestricted use and royalty free. I've downloaded a few individual tracks from a couple other places but I find that approach just takes too long to find something I actually want and figure out what the terms of use are.

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby debngar » Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:15 pm

For those that use Digital Juice music, I found EULA info on each track I bought from Digital Juice on their website, under Support>End User Agreements. The songs are listed alphabetically by name and include the artist and publisher. It's good to include that info in description area of YT posted videos.
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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby BarbaraC » Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:48 am

Every now and then when I need a break, I go music hunting and download unrestricted, free music in little bunches, adding notes to accompany the individual pieces. I can sift through them on my hard drive when in need. It's just one more way to deal with slide show sound.

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby Oldguy » Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:53 am

Finding the right music is one the hardest parts of making a
show for me. Then when you have to consider the
copyrights issue, it makes it even worse. I understand,
it just takes some of the enjoyment out of making a nice show.

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Re: What is legal re:copyright laws to music and photos

Postby DickK » Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:24 pm

If it's purely for your own private use and never posted to the 'net, I wouldn't lose any sleep over the copyright issues for the music. But if you're doing it as a business, going to post it in public or otherwise distribute it, then you run a non-trivial risk if you ignore the issues.
Dick
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