5 ways to use someone else's music in a video

Maxim Maleykin

The video includes many objects, including it can be with sound. Music can be written specifically for video content, or used previously written. The author of a musical work has an exclusive right, thanks to which he can determine the limits of the use of this music by third parties. Therefore, the creator of the video must agree with the author of the music about the use of a piece of music in the video. This article describes 5 ways to use someone else's music.

Contents:

License

Although the first three methods seem to be different, they are based on the same contract: licensing. You are granted the right to use a piece of music for a limited time, for specific purposes and subject to other conditions. Such an agreement will be onerous. You can read more about possible ways of calculating royalties in our other article.

Agreement with the Russian Authors' Society (RAO)

RAO maintains the Register of Russian and foreign rightholders. In the Registry, you can find the music you need by the name of the song or by the artist. RAO is collectively managing these rights, which is why you will negotiate with it. Then it is worth choosing the purpose of using the music. Your video will probably be published on the Internet, so you need to watch the copyright rates for the message on the air and / or by cable on the Internet, this also includes mobile applications. The rate is 2% of income, but not less than 25,000 rubles. It is also worth paying attention to the number of sites or applications that will use music.

Although at first glance the method seems simple, it is not always possible to agree on working conditions with RAO, so it is better to consider other methods.

Royalty Free Services

The license agreement requires payments. One of the methods of calculation is the percentage of profits. This method is called royalties. For convenience, special sites are being created, essentially the same registry, where you can take a song by paying once without further interest ( www.premiumbeat.com , audiojungle.net ). However, you should carefully read the contract that you will conclude with the platform. Check the acceptable uses against your goals. Such a contract will be a standard one, and you can only join it. If, after reading the contract, you are not sure that this option suits you, you should turn to other methods.

Creative Commons License (CC)

This method is absolutely free. In order to find works with such access, special services have also been created. However, for the video creator, the Creative Commons license rankings should be considered. See if you can use this composition for commercial purposes, or make other derivative works on its basis, if you can select the desired passage from the composition and use only it. All these restrictions can also be viewed on the website. Please remember that this is not a purchase, but a license, therefore, you are limited in use and must comply with the terms.

Alienation of the exclusive right

This option is more likely if you have agreed with the composer to write music for your video. Keep in mind that even if it is created specifically for your video, you do not have an exclusive right. Therefore, you can conclude an agreement on the alienation of exclusive rights, according to which the author will transfer the right to use the composition. There are no significant restrictions here, in contrast to the license. However, authors of musical works can receive remuneration for the public performance of a video (paragraph 3 of article 1263 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). However, remember that if you enter into a licensing agreement with the author of a musical work, he cannot restrict the use of his object as part of a video (paragraph 2 of article 1240 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Music in the public domain

The musical work is protected by copyright. The use of someone else's music in your video is not allowed by the action of the exclusive right. However, the exclusive right has a limited duration. As a general rule, it is 70 years from January 1 following the year of the author's death (Article 1281 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Also pay attention if the work was co-authored. Although this method provides free use of music, non-property copyrights are still subject to protection (authorship, author's name, integrity of the work).

The way you use other people's music depends on the content of your video. Classics that have passed into the public domain may be inappropriate, and the most appropriate seems to be the creation of music for a specific video. Observance of the exclusive right to someone else's music cannot be ignored, otherwise the creation of a video can lead to large losses.