# Copyright Music Question



## elementax (Apr 5, 2013)

Hey Folks,

I'm just wondering, if any of you have produced promotional videos for your clothing lines, businesses, etc, and if so, what did you do in terms of music?

I know there are a good number of copyright free tracks out there, but the majority of the popular songs / songs that work with the niche our line is trying to brand towards are owned by record labels, and as such copyrighted.

My question is, would it be possible to use a song on a Youtube video with one of these songs from the record labels on it? The video would obviously not be for profit, merely for promotional purposes. Also, we would include the "We do not own the rights to this song, copyright is held by..." etc to the description, as well as links to the artists pages.

Would this be acceptable from a legal stand point do you think?

Thanks in advance

Elementax


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

elementax said:


> My question is, would it be possible to use a song on a Youtube video with one of these songs from the record labels on it? The video would obviously not be for profit, merely for promotional purposes. Also, we would include the "We do not own the rights to this song, copyright is held by..." etc to the description, as well as links to the artists pages.
> 
> Would this be acceptable from a legal stand point do you think?
> 
> ...


No, you cannot use the songs even with a disclaimer. YouTube will shut your video down once they find out, and they will. I had them shut one of mine down due to a copyright issue with BMI and the sound track I had on my video. But I had purchased lifetime unlimited rights to that music and more so once I showed YouTube that they released my video.


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

elementax said:


> Hey Folks,
> 
> I'm just wondering, if any of you have produced promotional videos for your clothing lines, businesses, etc, and if so, what did you do in terms of music?
> 
> ...


I explored this music site(CreativeCommons) to find a track for my banner printing video. You can see the video with a track from that site here. Different song there have different stipulations on using the music but it is a great resource.


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

As the others have said, you can't use the track without permission. And you're unlikely to get it as it's for a commercial product, and the use of the song suggests endorsement. I'm not sure why you'd say it's "not for profit." If you're using the song to promote your business or product, it's for profit.

While it's great to use a popular well-known music, it takes only a little more effort to find local bands with similar music. Ask for permission, and give credit (in the video, and in the YouTube description). They often will allow it at no cost for the promotion they get. It also helps to drive traffic to the video, because they'll Tweet or blog about it. You can bet Lady Gaga isn't going to mention you've copped her latest song on her Twitter account.


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

Usually on that Creative Commons site they want you to display credits in your video for the artist but some stipulations can vary so you want to check out the permissions for the track you intend to use.


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