ModPlug Music Downloads Lisence

Reenen · October 31, 2006, 09:17:25

Ok, if I understand this correctly:

Public Domain

Can I use any of these mod files for any purpose?

In this case an open source game (angband lisence, hopefully soon GPL).

LPChip · October 31, 2006, 11:11:30

Hmm... I'm not sure where you've got that license from, but it does not apply to the Free Music Downloads forum.

Usually you'll need the artist's permission to do anything with the song, and its also appreciated. Doing otherwise, can be considdered stealing, and I don't think you want to do that?

tvdude · October 31, 2006, 14:06:46

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the definition of public domain is as follows:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=public+domain

Why didn't I just copy and paste the definition? Because that would be in copyright violation of Merriam-Webster Incorporated. That information can be found here:

http://www.m-w.com/info/copyright.htm

Music uploaded to this and most other sites is generally not copyright cleared. In many countries, copyright to a song is (generally) owned by the author of the song, or his or her agent, or record label, depending on if the music creator is in a contract with an agent or label. Making very minimal ( 1 or 2) copies of someone's song or songs for personal and non commercial use is usually overlooked by people holding the copyright to what you are copying. Most of us on this site (generally) upload our music to share, but still own the copyright to the music. While the internet may beconsidered "public domain", much of its content is not. It is extremely advisable to ask for permision to the author for whatever music you intend to use. Believe it or not, copyright laws in some countries are actually enforced, and the penalties for violating them are very heavy. Your safest solution is to find composers willing to give you original works containing no copyrighted samples. Get permission to use the works in writing. I work in the media field, have seen copyright violation, and the action taken by the law to correct it.

MisterX · October 31, 2006, 20:32:42

Quote from: "Reenen"Ok, if I understand this correctly:

Public Domain

Can I use any of these mod files for any purpose?

No, it does not.

You must receive permission from the copyright holder to use the music.

I need to clarify this in the downloads area - the PD license means that you are able to download it, play it, burn it to CD, etc. but not that you could use it in your project without permission. This may not fall under the dictionary definition of Public Domain, but it is what was meant by PD in the downloads area.

At least here in the US, things are pretty backward in the area of property - for example, I need to post a sign on my property saying "POSTED - Private Property" or I cannot make a case against anyone for trespassing.

Common sense would dictate that unless a piece of property is designated as "public", then it is "private".

The same should be applied to music. If you didn't write it, it is not yours, and unless the owner explicitly grants permission for you to use it, you can't. I think it is backward to assume that if there is no notice saying that you can't use it that you can.

I agree that the default license of "Public Domain" is confusing, and is incorrect as the default license for the downloads system. I have changed the default to the strictest license and therefore leave it up to the uploader how their song can be used.

Snu · October 31, 2006, 21:10:49

http://creativecommons.org/
^ a very good site to find out info about the creative commons (a series of PD licenses), the one i use is: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0

public domain licenses tend to vary quite a bit... there are two universal elements that ive seen tho:
no commercial usage without permission of the artist, and
give credit to the artist for his/her work.

regardless of the specifics of the licence tho, it is just common courtesy to ask the artist if you can use their works in a compilation/game/project.

mrx: on a side note, what about implementing the option to allow the artist to chose among the creative commons licenses when they upload? if they decide to not, it could simply be the default most restrictive.

MisterX · November 01, 2006, 19:31:23

Quote from: "Snu"mrx: on a side note, what about implementing the option to allow the artist to chose among the creative commons licenses when they upload? if they decide to not, it could simply be the default most restrictive.

Snu:

The artist can choose the license that they wish to use when they upload a song, and I believe that all of the CC licenses are available.

I need to check to see what the system defaults to if no license is selected. I have currently set all songs that were listed as "Public Domain" to "Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives", since the artist did not select "Public Domain", it was the default.

Sam_Zen · November 02, 2006, 00:36:33

As far as I know, declaring a song "Public Domain" still doesn't automatically mean, that the user can do anything he wants with it. Besides all kinds of copyright matters or licences, it's forbidden by law anyway to e.g copy a song of an author, and then declare that you've made it. Or changing the contents of a work, and then publish it commercially without permission of the author.
And people, who still like to see somebody's elses work as some material to use for their own things, at least should have the dignity to mention the source.

Snu · November 02, 2006, 06:02:11

Quote from: "MisterX"
Quote from: "Snu"mrx: on a side note, what about implementing the option to allow the artist to chose among the creative commons licenses when they upload? if they decide to not, it could simply be the default most restrictive.

Snu:

The artist can choose the license that they wish to use when they upload a song, and I believe that all of the CC licenses are available.

I need to check to see what the system defaults to if no license is selected. I have currently set all songs that were listed as "Public Domain" to "Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives", since the artist did not select "Public Domain", it was the default.

aah, oops, i guess i should try uploading some of my music... heh

Relabsoluness · November 02, 2006, 20:43:45

After reading definitions given in Wikipedia and Creative commons, I'm even more convinced that items of 'Public Domain' can be used without checking anything from anyone.

Quote from: "MisterX"
Quote from: "Reenen"Ok, if I understand this correctly:

Public Domain

Can I use any of these mod files for any purpose?

No, it does not.

You must receive permission from the copyright holder to use the music.

Based on the definitions in the above sites, the very idea in public domain is that one renounces the copyrights so there is no one to ask from.

Quote from: "MisterX"I need to clarify this in the downloads area - the PD license means that you are able to download it, play it, burn it to CD, etc. but not that you could use it in your project without permission. This may not fall under the dictionary definition of Public Domain, but it is what was meant by PD in the downloads area.

So in order to know what 'public domain' means in modplug.com, one has to see this thread

Sam_Zen · November 03, 2006, 01:27:36

So if 'public domain' indeed would mean : "do whatever you want to do with it", I certainly wouldn't choose this as a default.
This should be a conscious choice, not an automatism. Since licenses are about permissions, I prefer the Firewall-model, where
nothing is allowed, unless one gives a permission. As a start situation.

Besides this, I like to emphasize the difference between the official legal financial copyright stuff, and the way somebody 'uses the offered material'. This aspect has also a moral side in it.

MisterX · November 03, 2006, 05:55:23

Quote from: "Sam_Zen"So if 'public domain' indeed would mean : "do whatever you want to do with it", I certainly wouldn't choose this as a default.
This should be a conscious choice, not an automatism. Since licenses are about permissions, I prefer the Firewall-model, where
nothing is allowed, unless one gives a permission. As a start situation.

This problem has been corrected in the downloads area.

MisterX · November 03, 2006, 06:02:05

Quote from: "Relabsoluness"So in order to know what 'public domain' means in modplug.com, one has to see this thread

It was an error to have the songs default to the PD license, and that has been corrected. I have no intention to redefine what "Public Domain" means, but I wanted to convey that songs in the downloads area should be "listen only" unless you contact the author.

I wanted to have a "license" that means that you can listen to a song, burn it to a CD for yourself, etc., but that to use it in a project or any commercial venture would require contacting the artist for the use of the song. I believe that has now been covered by the CC licenses, so the PD license stands as it should.

Sam_Zen · November 04, 2006, 00:21:29

I like to mention the fact, that publishing a song as a tracker-module makes it much more vulnerable to modifications, or to extract material. Much more than a compressed version of the final exported mix, like mpee3 or ogg.
One publishes the exact score plus the different instruments in charge, not only the result.
This is the reason why I carefully choose about publishing my song in a tracker-format, or as OGG. Sometimes I like to keep my ways of operation a bit to myself.

And I like to point Dutch composers to the Open Xound Project.
(This is, so far, tuned to the laws on copyright in Holland, but I'm thinking about an international version..)

It's a database where you can register as an author, after declaring being a non-member of the official state copyright-orgs.
This is important, because it gives a legal proof for e.g. a radiostation, if they play a compo of that author, to refuse paying some official copyright tax (NL : the BUMA, US : the RIAA). Because no part of that money will ever be sent to this author, because of not present in their database as a member.
Then the author can register every single work with title and other properties. Each track will get a unique OXnr, which one can publish with the song. There is a list of licences one can choose to apply to each song, one of them is referring to CC.
One can also register a complete album with several songs. The album will get a unique number too.

Reenen · November 07, 2006, 09:37:48

I want to say... Why weren't I notified of all of your responses?!

I would gladly have taken part in it... but no mails arrived.

Anyway, back to the point, thanks for pointing out all the things, I now know that I can't just incorporate it anywhere. (I didn't download that many)

I would like to respond to tvdude's response...

Quote
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the definition of public domain is as follows:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=public+domain

Why didn't I just copy and paste the definition? Because that would be in copyright violation of Merriam-Webster Incorporated. That information can be found here:

http://www.m-w.com/info/copyright.htm

As far as I know, quoting (copy and pasting) from the dictionary would be fine, as long as you show your reference. Isn't that what is called "fair-use"?

Sam_Zen · November 08, 2006, 00:49:51

2 Reenen
I'm a daily visitor, so I don't need any notifications by email to check if there is any response on something. I dunno, but many forums have a checkbox for this. But, as you say, back to the point.
You're quite right about the term "fair-use". If some material appears to be free for use, it is a matter of civilisation to mention the source, the author.