I would like to use about 8-10 seconds of We are the Champions in my game ending sequence, not the original song, but an 8-bit like version. Is it legal or not?

It's not safe to do that. The legal letter you might get afterwards might demand that you take the game offline. How comfortable are you with the risk of a lawsuit? Either get permission from the song's rightsholder, or don't use the song.

I will add to that though, it very depends on wheather your 8 bit song is recorded in your own studio by your own instruments, or, derived by software processing from original WATCH. In the first case, precedense should play for your side, as melodies cannot be patented. What do you say Tom?

JohnnyCode said:
melodies cannot be patented

Patents refer to inventions and last for around 18 years. (can't bother to look up). Copyrights last 100 years or so. Trademarks are forever if kept up to date.

Sounds can be trademarked.

https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/soundmarks/trademark-sound-mark-examples​

Mostly I would be concerned with copyright for a song. With a melody, the songwriter has copyright. With a specific performance, the performer has copyright.

Licensing isn't complicated as far as business agreements go, and the cost depends on the song and your usage based on a bunch of standardized formulas. Some quick searches it looks like you'd need to license it through BMI and PRS, both can be started through their web sites.

As Tom mentioned if it isn't licensed you run the risk of legal consequences. You might never be noticed. You might be ordered to stop, sued, and required to pay restitution for willful copyright infringement. Or something else in between. How much of a lawsuit can you afford?

JohnnyCode said:
as melodies cannot be patented.

Probably the most known example was George Harrisons ‘My Sweet Lord’: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sweet_Lord
The​

I worked in the music business, and while i do not know details about legal issues, there were many of them. Constantly a stack of letters was waiting to be processed, the guy which specialized on exhausting grey zones at some point could no longer leave Switzerland without getting arrested.

rogerdv said:
not the original song, but an 8-bit like version.

If you also change harmony and melody (which feels just embarrassing) you could win an eventual lawsuit. …After years of being forced to take the game down.

So, the short answer is surely just no. Otherwise we would have heard We Are The Champions in many sports movies / games i guess, which is not the case.

Thanks for your answers. Technically, I cant be sued if Im in Cuba and have zero money for lawsuits. But if I pretend to have some friend to release the game on Google Play on my behalf, I would like to be sure that no legal risks are involved (thats why I migrated from Unity to Godot).

rogerdv said:
I would like to be sure that no legal risks are involved

Then don't use somebody else's music in your game without permission.

fleabay said:
Copyrights last 100 years or so.

95 years from first publication. Counts from 1 January. Music from 1926 is OK now. Here's Bye Bye Blackbird, the original recording.

@Tom Sloper

Is there not a fair chance that some vague 8bit resemblance of the melody cut short and clearly used for the purpose of evoking the idea or symbol of victory would fall under fair use?