I am sorry, but,anyone that reads the above should ignore it.

Using copyrighted material in a for profit venture is simply illegal, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If you wrote a song and had even 5 copies made illegally you wouldn't like it one bit, neither does anyone else.

The problem is one guy in Atlanta makes 5 copies, and 2 guys in New York make 5 copies, and on and on. Next thing you know there are 1000s of copies out there unlicensed and illegal.

Pay for your music and do it right, if you make 5 copies buy 5 copies, they only cost .99 at iTunes or Rhapsody to download. If the owner of the finished DVD makes copies they are responsible not you. If a buck a DVD is too much then you shouldn't be in the business to begin with

Fine! Do what you want! Just saying that nobody in the industry has time to concern themselves with people not getting permission to use commercial music on their little weddings. I would say that YouTube is a MUCH bigger thing to concern themselves with - and look how well that is doing!

That has got to be the daftest advice of the year. It's like saying "yeah, don't wear a seatbelt because the cops don't worry about things like that."

99% of the time you'll get away with it but that one time... And CameraDude I know of a small, one man company "FA Alexiou" who used the theme music from "Star trek" on a small presentation at a trade fair and was give the option of a fine or a court case. After advice from his lawyers he paid the fine, which subsequently almost bankrupted him and closed his company but at least he kept his house. It does happen, not a lot, but are you prepared to take the risk.

In other words, it's illegal and you may get caught and prosecuted. Now... do you feel lucky?

Edit. Let me just point out that this thread is in the "professionals" section. What happens to teenagers on youtube bears no realtion to what happens to professionals when they use copyrighted music to earn money. I have fun clips on youtube with "illegal" music, I NEVER use "illegal" music on a paid job. It's that simple.

Doesn't matter whether they are "fun clips" or not, YouTube should not be allowed to showcase copyrighted material like that either.

In my personal expirience rights holders are very rarely concerned with not for profit artistic recyclings of thier work. but if you are using thier work to make money then you are likely to be at the top of the list for legal action.

The internet has turned the world of copyright up side down and inside out and a new legal framework is evolving but to my mind the use of anothers work for profit is unprofessional, bad business and just wrong.

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Thank you, I guess I will have to sit down at the piano more often.

Buying a song off iTunes does NOT give you the rights to use the music, only the rights to listen to it and make up to 5 copies for personal use. Similar to buying a CD off a shelf. If you think it does give you usage rights then you are gravely mistaken, and should maybe look into 'doing it right'.

If I purchase a track for each DVD I produce, they will have a hard time fighting that in court. I don't agree with everything the music industry does or says but I do purchase every track I use and one for each DVD.

No they won't...

"(ii) You shall be authorised to use the Products only for personal, non-commercial use, and not for redistribution, transfer, assignment or sublicence, to the extent permitted by law." - iTunes service Agreement


Again I suggest you look into licencing laws before you go around telling people what they can and can't do. Especially as you don't seem to have much of a clue yourself.

I rarely use iTunes for music purchases due to their more strict usage agreement. The music is purchased by, or on behalf of, the ultimate owners of the DVDs. Under the section of the terms you site above a user would not even be able to transfer the music to their iPod, that wouldn't be very good of Apple now would it?

This is a long, on going debate among many people, organizations and companies. At some point it might get straightened out to everyones best interest and so everyone actually understands the many agreements, laws and users rights. My point at the beginning was, 'Don't use music you shouldn't be using, that you don't pay for, or don't have the rights to use'. If that means you need to buy distribution rights to the song then you should do that.

It is up to each of us to look into licensing and make decisions based on the findings.
If anyone bases their decision on what I say alone, they are idiots, just like anyone that bases their decision on only what any one person says. Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law, and 'Chuck said' is even less of a defense