Quote:Original post by Servant of the Lord
I'm sorry but by what are you going off of? I will try and search for my law, but even without the music store segments people make remixs of songs all the time, and techno music uses unchanged segments of music or movie soundtracks in the background alot. Granted, they can't sell their songs(as far as I know), but even known bands use clips of movies to make a music video often enough without being sued and, sometimes, without permisson.

Yes and that's the difference. There is a HUGE difference between using 30s clips and remixing them and using raw un-modified 15s clips in a game. The difference is that in the former you are actually deriving new.

Now all that said, your presumption about techno artists is actually wrong. Many of them do in fact have to obtain liscenses to publish their remixed tracks.

-me

From wikipedia:
"The recent Sixth Circuit Court decision in the appeal to Bridgeport Music has reversed this standing. The new rule in that Circuit is even more strict in its rendering of copyright law: "get a license or do not sample." Fair use does not come into play at all."

*Bows to swordfish*

Ok, I was not aware of this recent law.

Get permisson destron, in the form of a recorded phone call or a signed permisson slip.

Quote:Original post by Palidine
Now all that said, your presumption about techno artists is actually wrong. Many of them do in fact have to obtain liscenses to publish their remixed tracks.

I acknowledge that, if the publish them
However, I said:

Quote:Original post by Servant of the Lord
... people make remixs of songs all the time, and techno music uses unchanged segments of music or movie soundtracks in the background alot. Granted, they can't sell their songs(as far as I know), ...

However due to recent laws, I accept swordfish's statements, (see above post).

Quote:Original post by swordfish
I'm going off of my experience as a music producer.

[lol] Overstepped my bounds didn't I?

Again:

Quote:Original post by Servant of the Lord
*Bows to swordfish*

I admit that due to laws that I have not kept on top of, my 5min/30sec thing is no longer in effect, it appears. Thanks for clarifying with you wiki link.

Quote:Original post by Sean R Beeson
Or do you go after the venues?

Performing rights organizations (PROs) in the USA (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) do go after venues. For PROs, it's usually not a case of chasing down individual songs or snippets of them, but compelling the venue to have a proper license to perform any music in their catalogues, which covers most everything.


As other posters have pointed out, the 30 second rule is completely false. In spite of many myths, I believe there has never been a fixed number of seconds, frames, or sentences which can be automatically considered Fair Use under copyright law. Nor has there been a solid precedent set in court to establish any "rule of thumb" for time limits (like the 3 second rule I remember hearing some rap/hip-hop artists talking about in the 90's).

The only true rule of thumb is, "If you don't have a license, assume you don't have a legal right to use it." If you are planning to use a portion of someone else's music without a license in any venue or distribution channel where it can potentially be heard by the public, seek some professional legal advice before moving forward. Don't try to interpret copyright law by yourself. I personally know people who have gotten into some sticky situations as a result of their own misunderstanding of copyright.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. I'm merely chiming in because these myths are so prevalant and get people in trouble. My very basic copyright knowledge merely comes from my experience working in the film & TV music industry for several years. This experience has included consulting members of the ASCAP board of directors and being present at U.S. District Court hearings on federal oversight of performing rights organizations.