Quote:

Original post by zike22 I'm curious, would it ok if gardon used copyrighterd music, but didn't sell the game, but instead gave it away for free??

Distribution is the crime. Making and distributing copies breaks any license agreement you might have by owning the original album. Selling it only compounds the problem, makes it more criminal. Those kids weren't charging people to download their songs on Napster, and the RIAA still took their parents to the bank.

Think of music the same way you think of the code you wrote to make your game. Under copyright law, they are the same exact thing - an intellectual property.
Your code is unique to you just as an artists music is unique to them.

Now lets pretend you're selling your game for a profit and are quite successful. Joe Schmoe, a book author from Anywhere, USA, happens to come across the code to your game. He figures your code would make a perfect extra to his new book on game programming. So in chapter 5 he gives out the complete source code to your game without your permission.

Whether or not Joe Schmoe is selling his new book or just giving it away for free, he is still distributing your intellecutal property; your source code. He even gave you proper credit, but since he did not get permission, you probably never will know the complete source code to your game is being circulated around the world.

The comparison I made is somewhat lopsided, but I think it gets the point across.

To be honest, if your game is no good without those particular songs, it's no good. < period.

How about you find some decent bands that will be willing to let you use thier music for free and use that, but also include an option for people to choose thier own music if they want to. As much as you think only those specific songs will suit your game, a lot of your potential userbase is likely to absolutely hate the music you've chosen. [wink] If the game doesn't work at all without the specific music, then it's time to redesign so your game can survive without it.

It's illegal to use someone else's music without the correct positions, whether you make profit or not, and if you get caught there are some very nasty potential consequences. Take the risk if you insist, but I do not recommend it, and there are plenty of alternative options around that are perfectly legal. Telling people to illegally download the tracks could also get you in hot water btw. [wink]

That being said, it sounds like you've already made up your mind and you were hoping we'd give you some way of getting around the copyright rules -- You can't, and if you get caught, we've warned you.

Go get some legal music.

I'm not trying to advocate any illeagalities. But the way I saw it was, if you buy a cd you can use it for personal use, if you want to listen to it do so, if you want to load it onto your mp3 player do, if you want to make a copy (for purely archival purposes) do so, if you want to put it into a game you made for your self, no profit, do so??

But if you want to give it to your friends (for free), don't do so.

Is this correct.

p.s sorry about the spelling, dont have my dictionary up.

Oh yea, and I'm not trying to be mean here but...

Unless your working on the sequel to Gitaroo Man if a single band will make or break your game, you've got some major design flaws.

Personally i wouldn't have enjoyed Halo 2 if they replaced the blasting rock n' roll with country music, but it still would have been a damn good game, because everything else was done so damn well.

If you are going to make copies and not share them, if you are going to put it in a game that only you will play on your own computer, then noone will ever know, and theres no point in worrying, but the moment you distribute copies of copyrighted works to others, be it through sale or just sharing, the question is no longer moot and now you are violating.

So, yeah, you kinda got it right there. As in: if noone knows, noone cares. And I dont mean "noone important", I mean noone:)

To the post above, stating that my game is no good without music = no good game at all....


totally untrue

ya, it would be different, but the designed gameplay and everything would still be the same, and good.

Think about riding into battle in a tank. In that tank, you're going to be cranking out metallica/godsmack, because it's music that you listen to when you're blowing shit up or about to kill someone.

Now, if you're playing something like Yani, or the barney soundtrack, obviously it won't have the same effect, besides the fact that war is real, and you won't change the effects of war (physically) by listening to different music.

Just a thought,

Gardon

I dunno, I think I might listen to Wagner when blowing shit up, but hey:)

Besides, the barney theme would allow for intense irony. Very stylish.

Quote:

Original post by krikkit I dunno, I think I might listen to Wagner when blowing shit up, but hey:) Besides, the barney theme would allow for intense irony. Very stylish.

And Wagner would be out of copyright by now, right? Although you'd still need an orchestra to play it for you...

Have you thought about using classical music for your game, Gardon? You can get the scores for most classical works for free now (out of copyright), then make a MIDI track out of them. If you know some music then you could rejig the tunes somewhat and it would sound great. I'm learning the electronic keyboard right now, and it's amazing how cool the opening chords of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata sound when played with a rock theme; sounds just right for the climatic end sequence in an RPG.

There's heaps of stuff out there that you can use legally, you just have to look for it.

I'll have you know that Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus, all blew shit up while "rocking" to the ambient music of Nobuo Ematsu (god I can't spell).

Now I wasn't saying your game was bad, what I was saying that good design can bypass other "flaws", thats why i still play Nintendo (console) games today, cause the games kick ass...the gaphics don't. The same goes with music, if the design and execution are done perfectly if the audio sucks it's ok.