Using Foley sounds from existing films

I can't believe that some variation of this question gets asked almost every week, with the same weak rationale that "well, I probably won't get caught, so it must be ok?!?"

Why ask if you don't want to hear the answer? Of course you (OP) ruffled feathers, you're asking if people will support you in stealing, and I have a suspicion that you knew how most folks would react, otherwise why even ask in the first place?

If you have a microphone and a board, you can make footsteps, as many have already pointed out.

DON'T STEAL! It doesn't matter "if you get caught!" You are contributing to the inexorable downward slide of civilization if you consider any alternative to the contrary. DON'T Steal. Easy as that.

GJ
 
(Trying to be constructive here)
To the OP
The General is a cheap (and rather old) stock sound fx library that is often floating around. It has millions of footsteps, gunshots, squeaky doors, car sounds, jet sounds, dogs barking and cows mooing, and all sorts of stuff. Places like amazon will be selling it at high prices but network amongst your contacts. I've even seen 'going out of business' sale production houses dump their copy of The General in the the garbage. It's like a 100+ CD's so its pretty bulky and ancient but it would sort you out for all your indie film needs.
 
I just wish people understood that SFX and Foley are NOT the same thing. I mean - come on - the sound of a phone vibrating. How long does it take to record one? Longer than sourcing and downloading a version that could well be different to the sound of the phone in shot! How simple is it to put a phone on the right kind of surface and call it!
 
paulears said:
I just wish people understood that SFX and Foley are NOT the same thing. I mean - come on - the sound of a phone vibrating. How long does it take to record one? Longer than sourcing and downloading a version that could well be different to the sound of the phone in shot! How simple is it to put a phone on the right kind of surface and call it!
Click to expand...

And... remember if it is not just 'vibrate' but includes a 'ring tone'... that may be copyrighted...

On the other hand, I don't think The Phone Company copyrighted the bell sound on the Bell 202 phone that I have... wait... the one I have has a 'modernization' base... so it is not a real 202 bell, which was in a box located somewhere else in the house... so... hopefully the modernization kit manufacturer didn't copyright that bell sound...

This of course leads to... 'are dial tones and busy signals copyrighted'???
 
Now seems like a good time to redirect the old-timers to my original post, which indicates this is something I want to do. I don't intend to break the law, hence seeking advice before going any further. It won't come as a surprise to anyone when I say I am not familiar with what people can and can't do with regards to copyrighted material. I've noticed there seems to be some kind of loophole in the independent music industry whereby people sample others' music and nobody has any issues with it. I thought there may be something similar in the film industry.
 
Yes, that ^^^^, and, there is now something called Copyright Commons, which is an in-between license whereby the original owner maintains rights/ownership, but also allows various uses/licenses as a given. It is very popular on the Internet.

And to iamWZA, sorry if i was over-the-top. This is a question that comes up a lot on a lot of the music and audio forums, and I'm not here that much anymore, but whenever I come to visit, it seems like someone is asking the same question. It's really more of an indictment of society's currently lacsadaisical (sp?) attitude towards intellectual property, and our generally poor job of educating the public on these issues. Sorry if I implied that you intended to break the law, as that apparently is not the case. Kudos to you; many simply don't care at this point...

GJ
 
iamWZA said:
Now seems like a good time to redirect the old-timers to my original post, which indicates this is something I want to do. I don't intend to break the law, hence seeking advice before going any further. It won't come as a surprise to anyone when I say I am not familiar with what people can and can't do with regards to copyrighted material. I've noticed there seems to be some kind of loophole in the independent music industry whereby people sample others' music and nobody has any issues with it. I thought there may be something similar in the film industry.
Click to expand...

My 'read' on the 'resampling/remix' issue in music is... it's murky... just as it is murky when making a 'parody' in art or film, or heck even music. In the case of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Luther Campbell, a member of 2-Live Crew, and the case revolved around the group's use of the tune from the Roy Orbison song, "Oh, Pretty Woman", in a 2-Live Crew parody.

Most people don't have the bux to go all the way to the Supreme Court with their 'use' of material...

The irony of the Campbell case was the name the record company Campbell founded, "Luke Skywalker Records"... waiting for that middle name to sink in... was reduced to "Luke Records", because of a successful action by George Lucas, and the unlicensed use of 'Skywalker'...

On the other hand clipping a sample from a work, then asking 'professionals' "how do you think they made this sound"... while not being a lawyer, I think would be 'fair use' for educational purposes.
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
And... remember if it is not just 'vibrate' but includes a 'ring tone'... that may be copyrighted...

On the other hand, I don't think The Phone Company copyrighted the bell sound on the Bell 202 phone that I have... wait... the one I have has a 'modernization' base... so it is not a real 202 bell, which was in a box located somewhere else in the house... so... hopefully the modernization kit manufacturer didn't copyright that bell sound...

This of course leads to... 'are dial tones and busy signals copyrighted'???
Click to expand...

You know, I thought that same thing for this short I'm working on so I jumped on the keyboard and made a "sound alike" ring tone just so there wouldn't be an issue. Takes a minute.
 
Gregg Juke said:
Yes, that ^^^^, and, there is now something called Copyright Commons, which is an in-between license whereby the original owner maintains rights/ownership, but also allows various uses/licenses as a given. It is very popular on the Internet.

And to iamWZA, sorry if i was over-the-top. This is a question that comes up a lot on a lot of the music and audio forums, and I'm not here that much anymore, but whenever I come to visit, it seems like someone is asking the same question. It's really more of an indictment of society's currently lacsadaisical (sp?) attitude towards intellectual property, and our generally poor job of educating the public on these issues. Sorry if I implied that you intended to break the law, as that apparently is not the case. Kudos to you; many simply don't care at this point...

GJ
Click to expand...

I don't attribute the problem to 'lackadaisical' attitude... the whole f*#king thing is so complex, now that the Mickey Mouse Legislation has pretty much allowed copyright grants in perpetuity, moving material that was Public Doman back in to copyright status, and even the smallest use is an actionable item.
 
Noiz2 said:
Actually you are wrong. Northern California studios tend to record more new sounds for films but nobody in their right mind would record everything from scratch. Most of the non "new" sounds are from either a studios library or the sound designers library, the rest are from commercial FX libraries. None are "swiped".

Now that does not mean none have been used before. Everything but the new recordings have been used before.
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What also should be remembered is that after the post sound team goes out into the field or into the studio to create new sound effects only 10% or 20% of what they recorded is used in the film. The rest goes into the personal or facility library. Even someone like me at the bottom of the audio food chains builds up a fairly respectable library. For one film I had to create the sound of a feather being handled. It took about three hours, with about 40 minutes of recorded material. I guess that I have a hundred or more attempts, different props and multiple manipulations, and only one was used in the film. ALL of that goes into my personal library. And the sound community is pretty good about sharing sounds. I can' tell you how many times a sound buddy has come through, and they are welcome to anything from my sound library. I also do all of my own Foley work, and that all ends up in my sound library for quick down and dirty footsteps, etc.
 
unclebob6958 said:
.. And the sound community is pretty good about sharing sounds. I can' tell you how many times a sound buddy has come through, and they are welcome to anything from my sound library.
Click to expand...

I'll send over a hard drive ;~)

A few years back I need some musket shots. We couldn't find any anywhere, I posted that I was looking for them on the DUC and someone from Canada send me about twenty minutes of recordings from a bunch of reenactors. Muskets, musket volleys, charging screaming guys, cannons... It was a lot of very nice stuff that he had recorded the weekend before. I also send a guy in New Zealand a couple of protools sessions of punch sequences for a comedy Kung Fu movie he was making. I had cut them for another film so the sequences had layered hits they could easily alter. He send me back two hours of ambiences he had recorded around New zealand.
 
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