Movie or Video game samples

Eslaked

New member
Hi!
I got a question about copyright.
I finished a track with small vocal parts before the drop from a video game (Dota 2 in this case). Now I'm wondering if I could send this track to labels & propably release it without running into problems?

Thanks in advance!
 
Nutshell version
  1. copyright as it exists in the USA in a nutshell - most other countries have similar provisions but you would be advised to read the relevant acts in your country of jurisdiction to be certain
    • copyright protects any medium regardless of actual or presumed authorship
    • copyright after 1977 for individuals extends for 70 years past the death of the last author/creator of a work
    • copyright after 1977 for a business/company is between 95-120 years after publication
    • before 1992 copyrights had to be renewed/extended in the 28th year of the initial registration/publication
    • from 1992 all copyrights are automatically renewed
    • copyright before 1978 had a maximum duration of 95 years after publication/registration, provided the work had had its registration renewed in its 28th year
    • all works published/registered before 1923 are in the Public Domain
    • some works published/registered before 1964 are in the Public Domain if they were not re-registered in their 28th year
    • Fair use is limited in scope and purpose
      • For the purposes of critical review or news reporting
      • For the purposes of academic assessment or intellectual exchange within a learning environment
      • For the purposes of creating a parody - not all parodies are considered fair use, however
    • you can't use any sample not in the public domain without disclosing the samples used to the business your are trying to sell the work to
    • you would be advised to make the buyer responsible for clearing the use of any and all samples in in the work as part of the contract of sale

longer version
any sample that you use from a previously copyrighted medium is subject to the same clearance requirements as often far more recognisable samples are

- there is no maximum permitted length of a sample, there is no "it's ok for you to sample movies" or "it's ok for you to sample games" clauses in the copyright convention that individual countries copyright laws are based on

- in fact because you are looking to shop this around and are asking questions like this, you probably do not have any legal legs to stand in trying to later claim fair use

the fair use doctrine limits the potential scope of quoting copyright material (which is what a sample is) to three narrowly constrained uses
1) For the purposes of critical review
2) For the purposes of academic assessment or intellectual exchange within a learning environment
3) For the purposes of creating a parody - not all parodies are considered fair use, however

The only other exception is when items are in the public domain. Most items created after 1977 do not enter the public domain until 70 years after the death of the last creator/author - in the case of most games and films this is effectively 120 years or 95 years after publication, as the designated creator(s) are the company the produces the resulting work

For works create before 1978, the maximum duration of copyright is 95 years from the date of publication - which is why it is always a good idea to have a few old songbooks on your desk where the publication dates are more than 95 years before today - the use of these published versions is legal once the 95 years has elapsed - right now that means anything published before 1923 is in the Public domain (it doesn't add up but that is the current legal position - the calendar will eventually catch up with the reality) - there are several caveats attached to the 1976 Copyright act of the USA to do with effective copyright durations which can be broken down to the idea that unpublished/unregistered works created prior to 1978 that were registered before 2003 would have their copyright last until 2048

Additionally US copyright law has some other quirks such as the requirement prior to 1992 to renew the works copyrights in the 28th year of its publication/registration. After 1992 renewal is automatic, this, however does not extend to works that had failed to have their copyrights renewed prior to 1992; as such works created before 1964 that had not had their copyrights renewed are deemed to be in the public domain.

The above should not be interpreted to mean that films and games made before 1964 are automatically in the public domain.
 
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