Real music in RMXP

[eightyproof]

The song is Mizerable by Gackt.
Midi might have to do.
And eightyproof, I don't think that could be all that illegal since I've seen some RMXP games with midis from real games like FF and also this forum would be breaking it's whole "we're legal and still awesome" thing because even the download manager has midis to commercial games... without permission.

Well then the forum is being a bit hypocritical. Not only is using music from FF illegal, but so is using copyrighted named such as "Final Fantasy" on your project. But the most that would happen would be getting a Cease and Desist letter from Square-Enix.

MIDI's are basically sheet music played with soundfonts. And sheet music is copywrited by the original artist. If it was an MP3 it would be copywrite by the artist AND the record label since record labels own the actual recording of the song.

 

[lorddonk]

Well then the forum is being a bit hypocritical. Not only is using music from FF illegal, but so is using copyrighted named such as "Final Fantasy" on your project. But the most that would happen would be getting a Cease and Desist letter from Square-Enix.

MIDI's are basically sheet music played with soundfonts. And sheet music is copywrited by the original artist. If it was an MP3 it would be copywrite by the artist AND the record label since record labels own the actual recording of the song.

Exactly. This is what I would do in my game.

As long as I was releasing it for free, and had legally bought the song. I would use the music, and just give proper credit to the author(s)/recording company.

If a problem did arise, which is highly unlikely because I doubt the Hollywood big wigs would be sitting down to play an RMXP game, (no matter how popular it is) they would most likely send you a Cease and Desist letter, telling you to remove the music from the game.

Then you'd have 30 days or so to comply.

Simply remove the song and re-upload it.

But if the song isn't an extremely crucial part of your game, it'd be best to leave it out and avoid any hassle.

 

[Stupid Penguin]

Well, then I think I'm just going to use it.
All credit will be given, and all that jazz.
Plus, I did buy the song legally so there shouldn't be any problems.

Thanks you guys.

:]

 

[eightyproof]

YOU bought the song legally but the people who are going to download it may not have. So that really isn't much of a defense.

 

[Samboy]

The record label the artist is signed to owns the rights to the recording. The artist owns the rights to the actual music.

So.... that means that you can't play the song in a band and record it. Right.
Even if you aren't planning to sell the game, have made your own music from their sheet music, and, heck, you even have the LEGAL copy of the original song, you still can't put it in your game. Somehow I find that very amusing.

Using a MIDI would still be illegal.

So that means that ALL the MIDI sites out there with popular msuic, that they have made themselves, is completely illegal. Hmmm. Ok then.

 

[Selwyn]

So that means that ALL the MIDI sites out there with popular msuic, that they have made themselves, is completely illegal. Hmmm. Ok then.

Theorically, yes.

But will Square-Enix or Britney Spears give a shit if you use a midi of one of their song in your game?

 

[eightyproof]

So.... that means that you can't play the song in a band and record it. Right.
Even if you aren't planning to sell the game, have made your own music from their sheet music, and, heck, you even have the LEGAL copy of the original song, you still can't put it in your game. Somehow I find that very amusing.

So that means that ALL the MIDI sites out there with popular msuic, that they have made themselves, is completely illegal. Hmmm. Ok then.

Somehow I think you're being a smartass and I don't find that very amusing.
How many times do I have to explain that just because YOU own the song doesn't mean the people you are distributing the game to own it. You could even get a band together and record a cover of the song yourself, and it would still be infringing upon the copyright of the person who originally wrote it.

I don't know how hard it is to realise that if you are using someone elses copywrited works without there permission it is illegal. The notes in the sheet music are all copyrighted. The notes in the MIDI song are copywrite. They may have made the MIDI files themselves but they didn't come up with the notes and chord progressions now did they?

 

[vgvgf]

(Read specialy the note)

Games

Interactive software products intended to interact with a user for entertainment (action, role play, strategy, adventure, simulations, racing, sports, arcade, card and board games) and/or education, that may be published for multiple machines, platforms or media.

Running Royalty
mp3PRO · US$ 3 750.00 per title
mp3 · US$ 2 500.00 per title

Minimum Royalties
not applicable

Note: No license fees are due if less than 5 000 copies of a particular game title are distributed.

Source: http://www.mp3licensing.com/royalty/games.html

 

[Agent 47]

What I think is that it's illegal, and that it's not illegal enough to do any real damage.

Copyrighted music in a game, not legally but morally, should be fine if:

-The music is encrypted so that it can't be taken
-Proper credit is given to the artists

-The game is 100% non comercial, and you get nothing really big out of it financially.

Of course, lawyers arn't often the most lenient on these kind of issues, so they'll almost always have a good reason to demand things be removed. So it's more of a "Hope and prey" deal on the behalf of the people who make games with the maker.

 

[xmcdohlx]

wow, intersting topic. I had imported like 999999999999999999 songs to my game and im glad my game only had 5 maps so far xD

so...can i use midis? if not...what?

 

[ImmuneEntity]

wow, intersting topic. I had imported like 999999999999999999 songs to my game and im glad my game only had 5 maps so far xD

so...can i use midis? if not...what?

Legally you can't use any MP3s or midis unless you are given permission. However, no one is probably going to stop you if you do. Most RMXP games from what I've seen use music from other sources without permission, but they do credit the author.

 

[neo rpgomaniak]

Psf format is legall? If it not so why http://www.zophar.net/psf/ is legally? I want to use the psf because it very nice, and the games on psx are old.

 

[ForeverZero]

man, just use any music you want, it doesn't make a difference, just as stated above no one big is going to give a damn about it, and the worse case is that cease or whatever letter.
And I think some people here are very obsess with all that legal/ilegal thing imo. How many games (or projects lol) are here with copyrighted things like songs, images or names?
I think you just have to give the right credits to the people who create it and that's all.

 

[eightyproof]

Psf format is legall? If it not so why http://www.zophar.net/psf/ is legally? I want to use the psf because it very nice, and the games on psx are old.

The format is legal. The music is copywrite. Notice the (C)opywrite symbol next to every game.

Enough of all this "This website does it so it must be legal" stuff.

The bottom line is this:

If you didn't write and record the music yourself, it is illegal to use it in your game.

I personally don't care if you use copywritten works in your game. I'm just explaining how the law works.

 

[Khengi]

Is it possible to use our own music in our game? The ones we made?

 

[King Moogle]

EDIT: Response to Lene's provided link. For some reason, I thought it was the last post in the thread... sorry for the randomness.

An interesting read, indeed...

1. The article is trying to sell you something. "The license allows you to use midi-LOOPs with your personal computer applications and. explicitly allows the use on your personal website, so you can include midi-LOOPs under this license in all your personal Webpages." This shows more than a randomly placed period-- it shows that the author is clearly trying to persuade rather than inform.

2. The article only addresses midis created by musicians. "This applies also to MIDI files where the creator - the recording musician - does not make any money." Note that when they refer to "stolen", they put quotation marks around it. It's not talking about remixes.

3. The article clearly wants you to scare you.

Only a virtual artist lives from honour and fame alone, real humans need cash to pay their bills, so be careful, if it is called "free" (or available per anonymous download ) - if it does not come from the copyright owner ( as DEMO) or under and with a stated license, it could be "stolen goods" - and a bill (copyright fine) could follow the trail to the "reckless" creator and the "unaware" user!

Note the use of quotation marks to show that it's their words, not the copyright law's.

And, I do believe the article's initial assumption to be incorrect: "MIDI files are another form of recording music -sometimes even referred to as 'digital sheet music'.Therefore they constitute a new creation or a use of music like printing sheet music, performing music, or recording on tape". Right, some people refer to Midis as "digital sheet music", so clearly it must be illegal.

Ultimately, I think the article is pretty clearly trying to sell you on their product. If they were a neutral source I'd offer them a little more credibility, but even then they don't exactly clarify or back up their position very well.

Just my 2 cents. ;-)

Double Edit: Khengi, it's 100% legal to use music you created in your game. Even if someone else made it, as long as you own the license and/or copyright, it's fine.

 

[Lene]

And, I do believe the article's initial assumption to be incorrect: "MIDI files are another form of recording music -sometimes even referred to as 'digital sheet music'.Therefore they constitute a new creation or a use of music like printing sheet music, performing music, or recording on tape". Right, some people refer to Midis as "digital sheet music", so clearly it must be illegal.

MIDI is basically the instructions for a computer to play sounds. So it basically is sheet music. I write my songs in MIDI and not on paper. So if someone took a song that I didn't give them permission to use, I'd be kinda pissed off.

What is a remix? Copying the notes from hard sheetmusic to MIDI is not a remix. Some people don't realize that. I'm pretty sure there is some sort of guideline for that sort of thing though.

 

[eightyproof]

Remixes are illegal too unless you've been given permission. You can't legally use any part of someone elses work in your own. I used to be a hip-hop producer so I know a lot about this kind of stuff. Even if you take a sample of a drum that is half a second long in length from another song to use in your own and even change it's pitch and add a ton of effects to it...it's still illegal. That's the law on sampling.

 

[Roman Candle]

But if you record the same sample yourself, then as long as it's under a certain length, it can be illegal. Or, that's how I understand it to work at the moment. Otherwise there would be no triphop.

 

[Mac]

Go check into mcps-prs, they deal with copyrights behind the use of music for commercial use, it is acceptable though to use a 10 second extract from a song for free...but anymore is classified as illegal without direct payment to the contributing artist.

What mcps-prs do is they handle your request and find out how much it would cost to use a certain song and then after your approval create a contract based on the terms they made.