About music and Copyright

[Mephistofeles]

Hi! As i have said before, im developing a H game. But now i have come to the point where i need to add the music. And i was thinking, how the copyright applies exactly? I know i cant just use any song i found in the internet. If i buy a song in, lets say, spotify or apple music, i get to use it in my game? In case of artists that lets you use their music for free, where should i give them credit? Soo many questions.

 

[sillyrobot]

You need a license to use in a commercial product -- probably needs to be free of moral / indecency clauses as well.

Most music is sold with a license for private use only -- you cannot use it in a commercial product and provide it to others.

As for credit, it depends on the term of the license -- typically a mention and credit in an "About" menu item would be sufficient.

 

[Rich]

sillyrobot is correct. You don't really "buy" a song on Spotify or Apple Music - you purchase a license to use it within specific limits. Examples - you typically can't use one of those songs as the background to a Youtube video, since that's either a derivative work or a "public performance" or something like that, none of which are allowed under the standard "you got it to listen to it" licenses.

I would check out

You must be registered to see the links

- there's lots of material there under varying terms of use. Many of the items only require acknowledgement, some don't have any limitations. You have to check on an item by item basis, however, because some don't allow commercial use.

 

[Avaron1974]

You aren't actually buying a song, you are buying the right to listen to it. It can't be used commercially.

You would need to buy a license to use that music and those cost a LOT of money.

 

[AncestralGroove]

Not sure if

You must be registered to see the links

falls under this category but there are certian artists that publish music for free. As Avaron mentioned, if you would want to purchase the music for your game from the producers, that woulld cost you alot. Ive met also gaming streamers who use this NCR music so you could look in that direction. Not this type of gerne but there are different onces besides electro.

 

[anne O'nymous]

In addition to the already gave answers, talking about license to use/distribute isn't totally correct when it come to music. You start by asking the permission to commercially use the music, then you negotiate with the rights owner(s) how it will works.

Globally, there's three possibilities :
- The royalties model, where you pay a given amount of money for each copy of your game that have been sold. It's obviously something that don't works with a distribution update by update or a business model like Patreon where people don't necessarily buy the product.
- The no royalties model, where you pay a given amount of money once and for all. Then you've the right to distribute or sell as many copy of your game as you want. Generally it's a question of millions, tenth of thousands for small artists, but there's some artists who are doing this for few bucks (search for "royalties free music").
- The mix, where you pay an amount of money corresponding to the estimate number of copies you'll distribute/sell. Then, if you distributed/sold less, too bad for you, while, if you distribute/sell more, you'll have to pay royalties for each one of those unexpected copies.

This being said, there's also some artists who release copyright free music ; you don't even have to pay the few bucks of royalties free music. Be be sure that you understood correctly the conditions. Some limit the use to background music for videos by example, while other don't want to have their name associated to amoral things like an adult game.

 

[MissFortune]

In addition to the already gave answers, talking about license to use/distribute isn't totally correct when it come to music. You start by asking the permission to commercially use the music, then you negotiate with the rights owner(s) how it will works.

Globally, there's three possibilities :
- The royalties model, where you pay a given amount of money for each copy of your game that have been sold. It's obviously something that don't works with a distribution update by update or a business model like Patreon where people don't necessarily buy the product.
- The no royalties model, where you pay a given amount of money once and for all. Then you've the right to distribute or sell as many copy of your game as you want. Generally it's a question of millions, tenth of thousands for small artists, but there's some artists who are doing this for few bucks (search for "royalties free music").
- The mix, where you pay an amount of money corresponding to the estimate number of copies you'll distribute/sell. Then, if you distributed/sold less, too bad for you, while, if you distribute/sell more, you'll have to pay royalties for each one of those unexpected copies.

This being said, there's also some artists who release copyright free music ; you don't even have to pay the few bucks of royalties free music. Be be sure that you understood correctly the conditions. Some limit the use to background music for videos by example, while other don't want to have their name associated to amoral things like an adult game.

I could be mistaken as I'm not terribly familiar with music copyrighting, but wouldn't copyright free music relinquish all rights the holder has to the music? CC0, or Public Domain images (Old images, or even Pixabay/Unsplash), are copyright-free images that relinquish all possible copyrights and/or licenses for commercial and personal use - regardless of how the model and photographer feel about the project. Given the name, and open use of a track for free without pay, I don't think an artist would have any legal standing if someone used their song/track/effect in an adult game, no matter how much they dislike it.

 

[sillyrobot]

I could be mistaken as I'm not terribly familiar with music copyrighting, but wouldn't copyright free music relinquish all rights the holder has to the music? CC0, or Public Domain images (Old images, or even Pixabay/Unsplash), are copyright-free images that relinquish all possible copyrights and/or licenses for commercial and personal use - regardless of how the model and photographer feel about the project. Given the name, and open use of a track for free without pay, I don't think an artist would have any legal standing if someone used their song/track/effect in an adult game, no matter how much they dislike it.

There's a wide variety of models that get lumped into "copyright-free" in common discussion. Everything from public domain (where anyone can use for any purpose because the copyrights have expired and/or been formally relinquished), copyleft, creative commons licensing, or copyright maintained but with specific rights relinquished.

Performance arts like music are special in that both the material and the performance fall under copyright. The music may be public domain -- say a Mozart piece -- but the performance recording is still protected. Because copyright term lengths keep getting longer, there is little recorded music that has entered public domain. Copyright law is regional although the Berne Convention places a lower bound on most of the world. There was a period where copyright on recordings was short in some markets and some music recordings fell into public domain, but with changes in regional laws, it gets really murky what falls in and out of public domain and which countries it applies in.

Everything but public domain comes with a license and obligation. Read that. Better yet, get someone versed in copyright law to read it and make certain you are properly familiar with the obligations and expectations using the material entails. For example, if you use a Creative Commons element, the expectation is your product will not be better protected and must be released under the same license.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Note: I'm not a lawyer, just some guy that know a lot about the subject and is sharing his knowledge. Therefore, in no case this can be take as being a legal advice.

I could be mistaken as I'm not terribly familiar with music copyrighting, but wouldn't copyright free music relinquish all rights the holder has to the music? CC0, or Public Domain images (Old images, or even Pixabay/Unsplash), are copyright-free images that relinquish all possible copyrights and/or licenses for commercial and personal use - regardless of how the model and photographer feel about the project. Given the name, and open use of a track for free without pay, I don't think an artist would have any legal standing if someone used their song/track/effect in an adult game, no matter how much they dislike it.

In fact, "copyright free" is a language abuse. By example, Creative Common licenses aren't copyright free but more licenses "with more rights granted to the user".

In regard of Bern Convention over creation properties, and in regard of almost all the Laws over the world, a creator don't just own one right but many. Among them the rights of reproduction, use, distribution, modification and the right to sell the creation. A license said "copyright free" just mean that the said creator relinquished to some of those rights, but not necessarily all of them.
By example, the GNU Public License grant you the rights to reproduce, use, distribute and modify, but not the right to sell, that stay the property of the creator.

But, even while he relinquish to some, or even all, of his rights, the creator have perfectly the right to decide under which condition he will do it. You'll then have the right to this or that, as long as you respect those conditions. Fail to respect them, and then you lost the rights that were granted to you by the creator.
By example, the rights owner over the image of the Eiffel Tower have decided that the day time image is part of the domain public, and so anyone can photography or film it, individuals as well as professionals, without any fees nor restrictions. But the said image at night is only "copyright free" for personal use. If, as professional, you want to take a photo, or make a movie, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, you'll have to have the authorization and pay fees for that. And it's not due to the lighting, that is also under copyright since it's also a creation, because this apply whatever the moment (at night) you take the photo or film, while the lights are on only 5 minutes every hours.

Finally, have to be added that, at least in most Western countries (I don't remember for the Bern Convention) the property can't be conceded. Whatever how much you'll pay, you can buy all the rights over a creation, but it will stay the property of its creator. This imply that even if the license don't explicitly state that you can't use this music in an adult game, the creator can still decide afterwards to revoke your right to use it, this even if the music is said "copyright free". This at least if he's doing it before what will be seen, legally speaking, as the first public release ; and since the Patreon business model is to release update by update, there's risk that Justice see those updates as alpha or beta versions, and so state that the said "first public release" happen only when the game reach its final state.
It's why, by example, Banksy was able to partly destroy a creation sold by someone who isn't him, to someone who also isn't him. The buyer could have asked for compensation if he thought that it lowered the value of the creation, but at no time he could have sued Banksy for destruction of some private property ; because it's the property of Banksy before being the one of the buyer.

 

[zhoope]

I use this

You must be registered to see the links

Everything is royalty-free, commercially-usable and no attribution is required. it's worth checking