Any copyright issues with adding more music?

[Deleted32363610User]

I want to build a new radio station in my 'new world' quest mod. I want to add 3-5 songs from the 1950s that arn't already in Fallout 4.

I'm not going to be earning any money, but I guess I would still be distributing these songs since they would be in the mod's files (people will be downloading the music when they download the mod.)

Any advice?

[Reneer]

It's very likely any music you add, unless you are 100% sure the recording is in public domain, to the mod from the 1950s will be in violation of copyright.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Reneer

[Deleted32363610User]

How do I find music in public domain? lol

EDIT: I mean, where are legit places? Any trustworthy websites?

Edited March 9, 2017 by Guest

[Reneer]

MusOpen is one place and Archive.org is another.

[Lisnpuppy]

You also need to know that a musical composition may be the public domain but a sound recording is not and still is under copyright (especially one from the United States or Great Britain.)

 

For example...the original composition "Jingle Bells" maybe in the public domain. But if Metallica recorded it last Christmas 2016 and you want to use that one, it would be under copyright.

 

This is the U.S. Copyright Office basic rule of thumb is: ( http://www.pdinfo.com/copyright-law/copyright-and-public-domain.php )

 

Rule of Thumb for Public Domain Music and Sound Recordings. Musical Works published with a valid Copyright Notice of 1922 or Earlier are in the public domain in the United States. Essentially ALL Sound Recordings are under copyright protection until 2067 in the United States.

 

So unless a sound recording is so old that it does is not covered in the US Copyright Laws or the artist has listed it for common use you can not use it without permission. You also can play it yourself or have your friends garage band play the original musical composition of something in the public domain.

 

Also this is the pdf for the Copyright Office on Music and Sound Recordings.

 

https://www.copyright.gov/policy/musiclicensingstudy/copyright-and-the-music-marketplace.pdf

[montky]

@AnonXO,

thanks for an interesting hypothetical!

I've sent the long version via inbound nexus PM

 

the short version is -

 

 

the only way at present to share specific stuff,

is via livestreaming/radio cue/cue to a private collection etc.

you have to listen to your livestream from say Soundcloud, Spotify, itunes, youtube etc...

you have to turn the volume in-game down to 0,

and parse your livestream through a post-amp mixer such as SC4 filter etc so as it sounds just so,

which is fiddly and counter-intuitive for many users...

 

this is however, entirely how such livestreaming 'cyber-radio' services advertize themselves,

so as you can listen to them while playing your videogame...

and hence, is entirely legitimate for personal use, provided people legitimately use legitimate officially-official livestreams...

You cannot 'monetize' your gameplay recordings which use audio potentially hypothetically from such sources...

 

in the future,

perhaps mods which make live-stream embeddable audio in-game

will emerge...

thats right. dynamic in-game radiostations and 'podcasts',

real-time "acting" etc... all kinds of cool stuff might be possible.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by montky

[steve40]

Creative Commons licensing is your friend. There is a lot of original music available under this license that you can use non-commercially in mods, as long as you attribute it correctly.

Some sites that provide CC licensed music are listed here. You still need to check which specific license each song uses to make sure it can be used in your mod.

Personally, I love this site, the music of Kevin Macleod is awesome. He is a professional composer and a lot of his music is CC. The site even shows you how to correctly credit the music :)