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30th December 2011

Q&A: Is it illegal to make music videos but without the actual music?

posted in Entertainment |

Question by : Is it illegal to make music videos but without the actual music?
I am thinking about making creative music videos to put on my blog (that i intend to make money with). If I include the music (not mine) in the video then that would probably be copyright infringement. But what if I don’t include it and instead give people links to the music so that they can then play it themselves as background music? If this is still illegal, are there any legal loopholes? PS: I’ve heard of audioswap but it doesn’t have the music i want.

Best answer:

Answer by Michael
As long as you are not directly promoting any theft of the music and the link you provide goes to a reputable source you should be ok. HOWEVER…. If you are taking money from people to watch your video with ANY kind of “PROMOTION” of the music you would likely be in breach of copyright by familiarality. At the very least, the PRS and others would be on you like flies on a turd. I really wouldn’t do it.

It would be like someone trying to sell tickets for a concert where the tickets let you stand in a street half a mile away to listen.

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1 On December 30th, 2011, Composer Maven said:
Besides the ethical issues, here is another more practical issue: Who in the world is going to bother clicking to another site to hear someone else’s music somewhat synced up to a website? That’s a lot of work for the user, and since there are literally thousands of YouTube videos nicely synced (albeit illegally), then why would anyone want to spend time on your site.

Here’s a few more practical, ethical, and yes cheap options:

1) Buy royalty free music from a music library site. Then you can find music you want, pay a nominal fee on sites like Tradebit or Youlicense, and then have everything synced up well without causing a headache to your users.

2) Do you know any local indie bands in need of some serious exposure? You can cut a deal with them, even something as simple as you give them promotion on your website and the permission to use your videos in their promotional stuff. It’s win-win. You get free advertising to a much wider audience and so do they, plus it makes your site that much cooler.

3) Write your own music. Yeah, it sounds complicated, but if you have an easy program like Garageband or Fruity Loops, it practically writes itself.

4) Search Creative Commons. The site has links to thousands of musicians, artists, programmers, etc. who allow people to use their stuff (like music) for free within certain stipulations, most just want credit. Archive.org also has a good data base, but you need to double check the licenses since some folks illegally upload someone else’s music.

In the end, if you want to be cheap and have good music, the world is yours. There isn’t an excuse anymore to steal music. And its always bad business to start on an illegal premise. Your customers will get annoyed and you will end up with headaches later.

posted on December 30th, 2011 at 4:14 am