Legalities of using unlicensed music

C

cyclonebill

Active member
I've tried looking online and am having trouble finding the answer to the question I'm looking for.

I know using music that requires a license in basically any type of project is a no-no but I recall reading somewhere that it also had to do with the length of the clip you use. For example. if I need literally just a two-second (3 seconds max) soundbite from a popular song, would I still need permission to use that or would that be considered fair use?

The project will be displayed freely on the web, but there is a slim possibility that it could air for-profit somewhere down the line.

Unless I can find something concrete, my plan right now is to use the two-second clip for the free, online version, and if I had a for-profit opportunity, to replace the soundbite.

Any insights?
 
The answer is really very, very simple. Without a license, you can't legally use it. Any of it. Any length.

If you need a more detailed explanation, I'd recommend talking to either a lawyer who specializes in copyright and intellectual property licensing or maybe a music supervisor.
 
Length of the clip is not relevant in the slightest ... if it's copyright and recognizable, you need to license it. The 2-seconds or whatever other magic number you've heard is an urban myth that has no truth to it.

For profit or for free makes no difference ... infringment lies in the act of making and distributing the copy. It matters not whether or not money is involved. It is just as infringing to give a copy of a song to a friend as it is to make and sell pirate CDs.

Fair Use is a set of specific circumstances in the copyright law, none of which are the usage you decribe. Fair Use includes copies made for academic research, classroom use in an accredited K-12 school, criticism, and parody. Almost everything else is not Fair Use.

Note that there are two separate copyrights involved. The copyright on the music - that is, the words and melody - is one copyright you need to deal with and then any existing recording of the song has a completely separate copyright all its own. You license the music from its publisher and you license the recording from the label that owns the master. (And contrary to popular belief, permission of the artist is usually totally irrrelevant - they're just the hired help for the performance that was recorded.) You have to have both licenses to use any portion of the song no matter how brief and no matter what you subsequently do with the video in which it's used.
 
thanks for the quick responses. Probably best not to bother with it then, can just make something similar to what I need myself and avoid any potential headaches down the line.
 
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