Legal question

[Fred Foronda]

Just to cover myself, if I wanted to use music on my videos how do I go about without being in trouble with the law. As far as a legal stand point. Can I just give credit to the song writter in my ending credits or is their more to it. Sorry but I don't know where this topic would go on the forums.

Thanks

[Bob Costa]

This has been endlessly covered. Try doing a search on "Music copyright" as a place to start.

Short answer is you cannot legally use music in your video without a signed release from the owner(s).

The alternative is "Production Music" (royalty Free Music, Library Music, needledrop library)which has been specifically designated for such use, and is usually very affordable (many pay plans exist).

Really, do a search and spend the next two hours reading. It is a big subject if you want more than I just told you.

And the right place for this thread would be in the Business forum.

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Fred Foronda

Just to cover myself, if I wanted to use music on my videos how do I go about without being in trouble with the law. As far as a legal stand point. Can I just give credit to the song writter in my ending credits or is their more to it. Sorry but I don't know where this topic would go on the forums.

Thanks

There are quite a few threads in the "Taking Care of Business" section as well as the Wedding video section (as it's an issue that comes up frequently with wedding videos.) The articles area has an excellent and thorough discussion of copyright issues by Douglas Spotted Eagle.

There is much more to it than just giving credit in your end titles. The short answer is that you absolutely cannot use any music at all unless you own the copyright yourself, ie the song is your own creation performed by you or was created and performed by composers and/or musicians you have hired, or you have otherwise formally secured a license from the copyright owners allowing you to use their intellectual property. If you want to use the love theme song from "Titanic" for your romantic scene, expect to pay big bucks for that license. Even something as ubiquitous as "Happy Birthday" is copyright and requires a royalty every time it appears in a production. More reasonable alternatives are to use so-called "royalty free" libraries and needle-drop libraries as the source for your music. It won't be a top 40 hit but it can be surprisingly good and much more reasonable in cost.

[Steve House]

LOL - Bob and I must've been writing at the same time :)

[Fred Foronda]

Read up on it. Thanks for the directions.