if you're not making any money off your movie, can you add any music you want?

C

c.g._eads

Veteran
Let's say I wanted to make a movie then put it up on the internet and not make a single dime off it. Can I put any music I want in the film?
 
It's not a question of making money, but rather (mostly) of re-distribution and public exhebition.

If you own the song (on a CD for example) You can use it in your own home movie all you want, but those are then your own private hoem movies. The moment you put the clip up on you-tube, or burn a copy for a friend, you are re-distributing the music; and that's under the protection of copright, you need the copyright holder's permission to do so.

- Mikko
 
you can do anything you want. if it's not for profit, i personally have no problem with using someone else's music and giving them credit.

will it be legal? no.
 
I like UGAs response. You can do anything you want. If it is illegal, you take your chances.

Personally, I would blackball any filmmaker who violated copyrights.
 
Dick Campbell said:
I like UGAs response. You can do anything you want. If it is illegal, you take your chances.

Personally, I would blackball any filmmaker who violated copyrights.
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i should clarify that i would never do it for a serious project. i'm just talking about stuff like playing frank sinatra's "fly me to the moon" while showing pictures of me mooning strangers. :2vrolijk_08:
 
ugafan said:
i should clarify that i would never do it for a serious project. i'm just talking about stuff like playing frank sinatra's "fly me to the moon" while showing pictures of me mooning strangers. :2vrolijk_08:
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But if you did something like that, you'd HAVE to put it on youtube... :beer:
 
Well I did it for my first two films, but they were for school, and had a budget of 0$. If you really get serious about your films I'd suggest finding a composer. There are many of them out there.

But like everyone said, doesn't mean it's not illegal. Just never heard of many people caring too much when you post it online. It's not like Nickel back goes to every student film using one of their songs to ask them to take it off.

I use a composer as I'm doing more serious stuff.
 
Personally, the main reason I'd never use unauthorized music in anything I put out there for free isn't about the legality (though I recognize that it is a breach of copyright).

I don't use unauthorized music, even in free productions because I feel that it gives an unfair advantage.

Think of it this way: how annoying is it to work hard, follow all of the rules like you're supposed to, and see a YouTube video made by a 14 year old kid turn out better than something you've created only because they've used thousands of dollars of unauthorized music and sound effects?

People who break the rules make it harder for those of us who don't to compete -- hard to make your content look good when there are others who are simply putting stuff out there they didn't pay for that was created by professionals using a budget several times your own.

Whenever I watch low-budget indie films, the main reason I tend to think of them as inferior (compared to their high-budget counterparts) is the lack of a decent soundtrack. Half of the low-budget films I've seen have no music playing in the background of most of the scenes. Compare that to big budget films where there isn't a second without music.

So I get a bit annoyed when I see somebody ripping off a top 10 song on their non-commercial work, while I spend hours on my keyboard trying to compose something original...
 
The second you post it on the internet its considered distribution just like selling DVDs.
You can make a film with unlicensed music in it. You just can't give it away, sell it, or post it on the internet where it is publicly available without licensing that music. You can however put music in a film that you are attempting to get distribution for, but unlicensed music can make distributers balk. They prefer the film maker to have already dealt music licensing. They may take you to the cleaners with wanting a reduction in the films distribution price to cover music expenses. Often music licensing costs more than film production because the middle men are greedy. The blockbusters can afford it, small film makers need to find small musicians and not score their films from their CD collection or the latest radio hits.
 
For those who have tried...

What about a song from Sigur Ros. Definitely not top 10 (or top 1000 for that matter) but perfect for moody cinematic pieces. How much would an entire song from them cost to put in your movie?
 
What are the details of what you're doing? Is it a short? Feature? Expected budget? You usually pay according to those criteria.
 
TwistedLincoln said:
Personally, the main reason I'd never use unauthorized music in anything I put out there for free isn't about the legality (though I recognize that it is a breach of copyright).

I don't use unauthorized music, even in free productions because I feel that it gives an unfair advantage.

Think of it this way: how annoying is it to work hard, follow all of the rules like you're supposed to, and see a YouTube video made by a 14 year old kid turn out better than something you've created only because they've used thousands of dollars of unauthorized music and sound effects?

People who break the rules make it harder for those of us who don't to compete -- hard to make your content look good when there are others who are simply putting stuff out there they didn't pay for that was created by professionals using a budget several times your own.

Whenever I watch low-budget indie films, the main reason I tend to think of them as inferior (compared to their high-budget counterparts) is the lack of a decent soundtrack. Half of the low-budget films I've seen have no music playing in the background of most of the scenes. Compare that to big budget films where there isn't a second without music.

So I get a bit annoyed when I see somebody ripping off a top 10 song on their non-commercial work, while I spend hours on my keyboard trying to compose something original...
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Music and sound is 50 percent of any motion picture/advertisement/tv show.

One should always take into consideration that having good audio is most of the time the biggest difference between an amateur and a professional production.

It is, however, almost as hard to find a good composer for tv/film/advertisement as good actors. Most composers I know thend to despise composing for TV commercials. The ones that do are not very good. The good ones... Well, they are REALLY expensive.

Nowadays, if you've got a good musical ear, you can come up with creative compositions of your own, with software like soundtrack pro or garageband and a MIDI keyboard. I have scored two of my most important commercials trough soundtrack pro loops (added some of my own keyboards in it for the base), and it sets the mood I want for the advertisements. Check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpV5RvxnZa8

Forget the cantonese voice track, just listen to the music.

This is a bliss somethimes. I would obviously go for a composer, but sometimes, its good to know one can still manage himself in an emergency...
 
While it would technically be illegal to use someone else's music in your film without their consent, if you are just showing it online or in film festivals without collecting any profit I highly doubt you'll get in any real trouble. At most, if the copyright holder finds out about it, you'll get a cease and desist, in which case, I'd cease and desist. Lawsuits only happen when you are backed by a major corporation, where millions of dollars can be had by the lawyers...However, I think the best option is to find a good music library, and ask for a festival license, where for no or little money you can show your film with their music, and then if you find paying distribution you'll owe them their regular rate. While it takes a lot of searching for the right track, a good music library can have stuff of a quality most low budget filmmakers could never afford.
 
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Lawsuits only happen when you are backed by a major corporation, where millions of dollars can be had by the lawyers...
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That's not the experience the music-downloading college kids found out from the RIAA. Individiuals and small companies can and do get sued.

What you say is generally true (even cynically true -- sometimes large companies get sued who had little to nothing to do with the issue, and are sued only because they've got "deep pockets") but to tell someone they won't get sued is not accurate. They might.

c.g., why would you spend $50,000 to get a film you can't show to anyone because you misappropriated copyrighted material? Makes no sense. Either get permission, or don't use the copyrighted stuff.
 
Barry_Green said:
c.g., why would you spend $50,000 to get a film you can't show to anyone because you misappropriated copyrighted material? Makes no sense. Either get permission, or don't use the copyrighted stuff.
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This is the question I had. Unless by "less than $50K," he means "$49,500 less" :)

But if it's a matter of getting a very specific song, it might be worth simply approaching the band and asking them for a deal. Depending on the size of the act in the world, and the size of their record company, etc, if they dig what you're doing, you might get somewhere.
 
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