Copyrighted Music in Maps

[The_Maker]

In the Shifters campaign there were numerous "borrowed" songs from many different authors which enhanced the "mood" of the different scenarios. This has been going through my mind for some time now and I cannot figure it out. Was using those songs in the campaign illegal? I would imagine not because they were only portions of the actual songs but they were still copyrighted material. I am just curious because I dont want to be breaking any copyright laws or anything when I make scenarios and such with other people's songs in them.

[hidiho2]

If I remember correctly, you can use around 30 seconds of a song that is copyrighted. It might be more or less though.

[X-Master2]

If I remember correctly, you can use around 30 seconds of a song that is copyrighted. It might be more or less though.

True, I have an RP that has a lot of songs from games, CDs, and a theme song from a Anmie (forgive my horrible spelling). So I would say not ot worry too much, espically if you took the songs from a CD you already own.

[hammocksleeper]

If I remember correctly, you can use around 30 seconds of a song that is copyrighted. It might be more or less though.

There is no actual number of seconds set in stone. All of this falls under the "fair use" part of copyright law. There is such a huge fray area when it comes to this stuff. You know, that's how the "you are allowed one copy of your video games for archival purposes" myth came about. There's nothing written anywhere that says that. It came about out of the fair use clauses.

So basically, the answer is, yeah just use a short portion of the song, not the whole damn thing. It's really up to you.

[Yoshi_da_Sniper]

Its a good question. I really don't know. Besides, how could you exactly prevent it? Battle.net really can't ban maps, and people have it already on their computers.

[Kingscrab]

That IS a really good question. I Do know that you can make copies of copywritten material legally if your intended use is educational or personal, and not for profit. (at least, that is what the Kinko's copy center people have said...) If you were making money off using song bits and stuff, then someone might put up a stink... But, i'm really no expert...

[Yoshi_da_Sniper]

If you could copy stuff for personal use legally, then MPAA wouldn't be so hyper about Peer to peer downloading mp3s.

[Kingscrab]

My guess as to why they are freaking about it (pirated music that is) would be because a good deal of the music downloaded off of peer to peer programs is probably music that people simply don't want to pay for in the first place. (like when you want one or two songs but don't wanna shell out 15 bucks for the entire CD) That's just a theory of course... Like i said, i'm certainly no copyright expert. :)

[Kabam]

Don't ask, don't tell. ;)

[SuiCidAl-KiSmEt]

in a blizzard mode, "Legacy of the Confederation", the first series and the first level it had the full StarShip Troopers song in it. I bet thats Copyrighted, but blizzard still put it in its map, if they did pay for the song they still put it in for everyone to listen. So, I think no.

and its "Anime"; for anyone that doesn't know how to spell it.

[Yoshi_da_Sniper]

My guess as to why they are freaking about it (pirated music that is) would be because a good deal of the music downloaded off of peer to peer programs is probably music that people simply don't want to pay for in the first place. (like when you want one or two songs but don't wanna shell out 15 bucks for the entire CD) That's just a theory of course... Like i said, i'm certainly no copyright expert. :)However, the question is about legality, not about if they'll do anything about it. So, bottom line, they obviously have some legal standings, or they wouldn't be able to sue you.

[Tuxedo-Templar]

I see flash authors using songs almost all the time. Doesn't seem to be a problem in that medium...

Technically, 3rd party programs are also taboo, but I have yet to see Blizzard give two craps about them (except maybe hacks... and they only go after the people who use them, as far as I've seen).

But yeah, I would be interested to know the exact legal standing of this (considering I'm using a few loops in my Rush map).

[BSTRhino]

Legacy of the Confederation was actually made by Campaign Creations Toonami. They're a StarCraft fansite.

Once we studied radio broadcasting at school, and our school rented a radio station (one that was made for students practically) for two weeks or something, and we all had to make radio shows and ads to fill it up. For the ads, we learnt that you could not use a commercial song to earn yourself profit without "permission." Perhaps that's how it applies here.

StarCraft maps really would be a lot worse without cool music too.

[EdvardMunch]

The impression I get is that it is, indeed, illegal to use copyrighted music in a map without permission. However, fair use laws are not that well defined, and the question isn't so much whether it is illegal, but whether the courts will think it was illegal.

As such, there are four criteria (and a bonus fifth which, although unlisted in the laws, figures in anyway) that determine how illegal your usage of a song was, as stated at Stanford's Fair Use Site: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-b.html. I'm gonna list and summarize the criteria, along with how I interpret it to relate to music in SC mapping.

The Criteria

1. The purpose and character of your use: This is the most important criteria. How much are you gaining from using the work? Are you adding new meaning to the work or using it in an emotional way, or is it copied verbatim and used without effect? In terms of using music in a map, I take it this would be the difference between using music to trigger emotions (like in The Shifters) and simply using music as background noise in a bar or something. The less you benefit from a song, the better off you are, I believe.

2. The nature of the copyrighted work: The more factual a work is, the more leeway you have to copy it, since information benefits the public. In the case of music, I guess that would be the difference between placing a public speech in your map as compared to a song.
Furthermore, whether or not a work is published makes a difference. You're better off if the work has been published and publically released, because at least the author got to control how they want it to look and sound to everyone else. Since virtually all of us use music that was publically released, that shouldn't be a problem.

3. The amount and substantiality of the portion taken: The longer the clip, the worse off you are. And don't think you can get away by stealing a 2 second clip either, not according to http://www.ivanhoffman.com/fairusemusic.html in which Ivan Hoffman writes that "In Bridgeport Music, Inc. et. al. vs. Dimension Films et. al., the Court found that the use of 3 notes, lasting 2 seconds, from a sound recording called “Get Off Your Ass and Jam” (“Get Off” in the opinion) in the track called “100 Miles and Runnin” (“100 Miles” in the opinion) contained in the sound track of a motion picture called “I Got the Hook Up” (“Hook Up” in the opinion) was not fair use." What a shame, Get Off Your Ass and Jam was such a great song. Or something.

4. The effect of the use upon the potential market: Did you cost the artist money? You'd better not have. This can be evaluated in a lot of ways, including how widespread is the map and did you make any money off of the map? Let's use The Shifters as an example. If Judascloud had charged money for the map, he could be in deep trouble with the music people. Furthermore, if The Shifters had been downloaded by 100 million people, it's likely that his use of music may hurt the artists, which would also spell doom for him. Because The Shifters wasn't downloaded by a lot of people (relatively), he hasn't cost the original artists enough money to warrant a lawsuit.

5. Are you good or bad: Judges are subjective, emotional creatures too. If your use of music was in a tasteless or poor context, you'll be more likely to get slammed. For example, if you illegally use a song for a hardcore porn, you'll be more likely to lose the lawsuit than if you had illegally used the song for a documentary on cute kittens who make orphans who were born without tongues happy.

Other issues
- What if you acknowledge and credit the song? That works in your favor, but doesn't make the use of the song not illegal.
- What if you put a disclaimer keeping your work separate from the works you borrowed? Again, it works in your favor, but it doesn't absolutely protect you.

There are only two ways to be absolutely sure you won't be sued: Get permission, or don't use the song.

Another clever idea is to claim that your crappy garage band made the song and that the artist who is suing you actually stole the song. Countersue the artist and make millions.

[X-Master2]

Another clever idea is to claim that your crappy garage band made the song and that the artist who is suing you actually stole the song. Countersue the artist and make millions.

You know, that actually maybe more trouble than its worth. But you never know, I guess if Edvard thinks you could do that, than I guess it could work. But hes right either get permission (more trouble than its worth, too) or just dont use it. Or just dont give a crap about the laws and use it any ways, either way, its really all up to you, it is the consequences you have to deal with (if any) in the future. But what the hell do I know?

[EdvardMunch]

Another clever idea is to claim that your crappy garage band made the song and that the artist who is suing you actually stole the song. Countersue the artist and make millions.

You know, that actually maybe more trouble than its worth. But you never know, I guess if Edvard thinks you could do that, than I guess it could work.
I was joking with that last part. :)

[MidnightGladius]

Hmm, I have an interesting idea on this:

Sound Recorder can tell you on a piece of music's copyright. Use Audacity to add/remove some rests at the beginning and run it through Sound Recorder again. If Sound Recorder (an official windows program) says it's not copyright, then I guess it's not copyright. :D

[Yoshi_da_Sniper]

Well, I've never actually heard of a lawsuit against anyone for having copyrighted sounds in a starcraft map. Its harmless, non-profit fun, I don't realize why it would be such a problem.

[MidnightGladius]

I mean, no one goes around selling starcraft maps...At least no one that I've heard of...