I heard a while back that you can aquire classical music and other music from the government or something like that. Its like some kind of national archive of music and other things that people can use in movies and whatnot I think. I believe it was all free or close to it, and royalty free, but I cant remember what its called though. Does anybody know what Im talking about? :P

You're referring to public domain, which means most pieces of music written prior to 1923 is open for use without having to give royalties to the composer, at least in the US. This doesn't mean that you can grab any recording of Beethoven and go to town however. The piece may be public domain but there might be rights to the recording of the piece.

Some sites have recordings that are free for us as long as you reference the recording in your credits. It's really a case by case situation as well. Not every piece may fall into the public domain category so it's best to do some research and find out.

This site is pretty useful: http://www.pdinfo.com/list.php but I'd always check and double check before publishing anything that is using someone else's work. Better safe than sorry!

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Original post by nsmadsen You're referring to public domain, which means most pieces of music written prior to 1923 is open for use without having to give royalties to the composer, at least in the US. This doesn't mean that you can grab any recording of Beethoven and go to town however. The piece may be public domain but there might be rights to the recording of the piece. Some sites have recordings that are free for us as long as you reference the recording in your credits. It's really a case by case situation as well. Not every piece may fall into the public domain category so it's best to do some research and find out. This site is pretty useful: http://www.pdinfo.com/list.php but I'd always check and double check before publishing anything that is using someone else's work. Better safe than sorry!

Thats what it is!! I couldnt remember that name. Thank you very much! :)