Music remakes & copyright questions

[BeyondTagusLynx]

Hi, everyone. I've enjoyed the Doom series music for a long time and I decided to join Doomworld today. I experimented a bit with creating my own remakes (nothing finished yet... but if I do finish something I'll post it on here) and I also did some exploring on Youtube to find remakes of the original soundtrack. Names like OCRemix and Doomworld would show up sometimes, which is why I thought I'd enjoy being a part of this community.

 

Maybe those of you who make music might be able to help me with some questions. I've been reluctant to actually upload anything anywhere because of copyright concerns. That is, I don't know whether there are any legal issues I should be aware of. Is it OK to just upload any remix or remake to Youtube and claim it as yours, as long as you credit whoever wrote the original song (or lyrics, when that's the case)? Have any of you ever had any similar problems where somebody asks you to remove a remix you uploaded? And if so, why did it happen and how can it be avoided?

 

Another concern is that somebody would just steal my music and use it for whatever they want without even saying a word. Has this ever happened to you? And how did you deal with it, or how would you deal with it if it happened and you found out?

 

That's all for now. Thanks a lot for your attention.

[ENEMY!!!]

I've often been overly fearful of copyright issues myself, and the legal status of some remaking and remixing is questionable, although in the realm of video gaming it is widespread and OC Remix in particular has had a lot of support from original composers whose music is being remixed repeatedly. 

However, as far as I'm aware remixing the Doom or Heretic or Hexen soundtracks and distributing the remixes non-commercially is legally in the clear, and I recall someone getting confirmation of this from Activision regarding the Heretic and Hexen tunes, as well as positive comments from Kevin Schilder.  I've posted several remakes and remixes of Doom and Hexen tunes on YouTube and Soundcloud without any issues, and intend to upload plenty more in the near future.  They might complain at distribution of remakes/remixes in commercial products though.

I'm not so sure about the legal status of remixing the DOOM 2016 soundtrack, but there are several remixes of it up on YouTube and Bethesda has posted the full soundtrack on YouTube also.

I generally take the policy of letting others use my stuff non-commercially as long as they credit me (and, in the case of remixes, the original composer), though I'd of course be miffed if someone took some of my stuff and claimed it as their own.

[luke11685]

Did you ever had GEMA message on YouTube when you try to listen some song?

[BeyondTagusLynx]

Hey, guys. I want to say thanks for your messages. Me, I never even knew GEMA existed until you asked, as I'm not in Germany, but I did notice several videos getting blocked on Youtube over the years because somebody reported them for copyright issues.

 

So basically I should be safe if I upload my music claiming that it is strictly non-commercial and crediting the writers of the originals. So now I have two more questions:

 

1) Nobody ever seems to bother with this, but would it be a good idea to attribute actual copyright licenses to our remixes/remakes/etc? And if so, what would be the best type of license for a non-commercial remake that credits the originals and CAN be used by others, for example, in mods?

 

2) What might be the best ways to find royalty-free visual content (photos or videos) to go along with the music on a Youtube video?

 

Thanks again in advance.

[Billy Baron]

Sorry if I come off as, uhm, an 'Annoying Person'. Is that 'Term' okay? Peace in Advance.

 

Right, well, the license terms sound okay to me. I'm no lawyer, but as I can see you apparently are so interested in releasing "Something" you're just going to release it regardless of the terms. If I were a lawyer, it would be 'the Bar Exam', and it's been that way since when the Bar Exam was first used. That being said, I'm sure you have your own religious leaning. Wether it's Christ, Vishnu, Buddha, Rabbi, Mohammad or a 'Deity of your own Choosing', a lot of foreign countries don't let you choose which God. So, as you see, the answer is, sadly, "No, you may not release your material to the whole world". And he says these things even while it's between him and God, folks. (Just for starters)

 

So maybe you create your own title anyway, now saddend that the Gods disagree. Which license sounds good to you? One you didn't author yourself that is about a different Denomination perhaps? Even there is the most official Church of Satan and break-off Satanism that has sprung up for the most important meaning of your Legal Work. And you'll feel more comfortable about Satan as DOOM is played out in Hell.

 

Visual Information is similarly difficult to find these days, Isn't it? Even if 'Leonardo DaVinci's The Last Supper' was available as a public work, Again, to which countries would it be acceptable?

 

Hope that helps. Good Luck with your artwork that is not about religion up until right now.

 

Help us Obi-Wan Kinobi, You're our only Hope.

 

[ENEMY!!!]

Creative Commons licenses are often a good bet.  CC-BY-NC (or CC-BY-NC-SA if you want those who use your work or create derivative works to share it under the same terms as your original) corresponds closely to what I outlined earlier, i.e. non-commercial use being allowed as long as credit is given.

 

If it's Doom-related then gameplay screenshots or footage would work well.