creative commons and other "non-commercial" liscenses.

[dv416]

so oftentimes, i use third party assets in my video productions. be it graphics, music loops, etc.

the creative commons is a great way to find free content like this. however, the non-commercial licenses (for creative commons or any other free content online) are somewhat vague about what is and is not allowed.

for example. a free loop package that i want to download (from apple, not CC) says it is for "personal, non-commercial use." It then says "You may not transfer, assign, sub-license, lend, or re-sell the rights granted under this license. You may not link to files hosted on our servers, such as free downloads and music."

if i then use these loops to compose background music for a paying client's video, does that constitute non-commercial? its not like i am selling the loops and calling them my own. rather, i am using them as part of a broader project, albeit a for-profit one.

same idea applies to some of the Creative commons stuff i use for motion graphics. a lot of times i need to find assets for after effects compositions. i use CC, google image, etc. most of the things i find have rights reserved, and indicate non-commercial use. is using non-commercial asset as a tiny, not even noticeable part in a broader, commercial project a breach of these terms?

its not like millions of people will even see the videos, but i want to get this figured out. or maybe i am just over thinking it?

 

[Jim Brennan]

I believe that is illegal under creative commons. What you are doing is 'for-hire', hence does not fall under 'private, non-commercial use' no matter how many people see it.

 

[Andrew McCarrick]

Non-commercial means you can't make money using it any way. For example Microsoft has a "non-commercial use" mark on their student office package, and as such it can't be used in a commercial building.

 

[oneinfiniteloop]

Yeah, it's pretty simple, "non-commercial" means non-commercial, no using it in any commercial work. Say, you want to use those items in a personal project to learn, that's cool, say you want to sell that personal project to a client, not cool. If you're getting paid it's commercial, period.

Always be safe and buy stock or create it yourself. Imagine if someone sends your client a cease and desist letter for an element you used that you didn't have permission to use, you'd have pie on your face and would probably lose that client, any future clients they might have referred and you'll look flat out unprofessional. It's just not worth it.