I'm a big fan of the 8- & 16-bit sounds & I have a load of .mod and .xm tracker modules collected over the years from my Amiga days & from websites such as this (some good ones, open with winrar & play with BASS or winamp: 4-mat - 4-mat's Madness, Virgill - Interference) . I was wondering about the legality of using them in my games? At the moment I'd expect to release them as freeware, but intend eventually to make some shareware. Most of the modules come from demoscene productions (full length demos, cracktros etc), whereas others are from commercial titles but the music seems to have found its way into the Public Domain somehow (for example, I have the Pinball Dreams music sitting on my hard drive). Come to think of it, some of them are from Public Domain / PD games as well. I've tried getting permission fro the authors but as there is often no copyright information attached in the .mod, in most cases am unabe to find them. Others have vanished off the internet or rarely respond to emails if I do manage to find them. So would I be on dodgy ground if I used this music? I would obviously credit them for it in the game. Just that I feel some of them deserve to get a second listen :) As much as it pains me to say it, the Amiga is basically dead. But the authors are probably still alive, & it's still their work. edit: Perhaps this might get a response in a different forum, but I wasn't sure where to put it. [Edited by - DrewGreen on December 14, 2005 12:03:41 AM]

It's illegal.

If you can’t get permission then get someone to compose you some; they could use the mods you really like as reference.

Unless you have express written permission, you won't be able to use the music unless the license it's released under allows you to use it (eg: Public Domain).

Ok, I thought that might be the answer. Does demoscene/cracktro music come under the definition of PD?

No. Every musical work created by anyone, within approximately the last century, is copyrighted and you can't use it unless you have their permission.

Public Domain means out of copyright (it's old) or the copyright has been waved by the author (unlikely).

So, get permission or get someone to compose for you. Or do what the old skool coders used to do and use some Scott Joplin rags ;)

Skaven of "Future Crew" has released a load of his tunes as PD, check them out here

No, Skaven of "Future Crew" has released the songs to be freely distributed for your listening pleasure only. If you want to include it in your project you need to get his permission. He explicitly states that he retains the copyright on all the tracks and they therefore are not in the public domain.

Sorry to be arsey; all you need to do is read the small print.