Is royalty free music considered copyrighted music?

Question

I'm entering a contest that doesn't allow copyrighted music. I have Soundtrack Pro, which provides many royalty free music clips. Do these clips count as copyrighted music?

Answer 1

Royalty free music or anything means just that. You can use it without having to pay for the use or getting permission to use it. It may be copyrighted however the owner has given permission for anyone to use it without charge.

This should be acceptable to the contest but be sure to ask before you take my work for it. Some people just do not think and just react.

Answer 2

most, but not all, royalty free music is under copyright. you have a license for certain uses, check the instructions with soundtrack pro to see if your project is acceptable use. composers of royalty free music are often members of ASCAP or BMI, which will demand a performace fee if there is a public display as part of the contest. This payment is made by the venue so that is why they are requesting no copyrighted music.

Answer 3

If you write music or songs, and somebody uses what you have written (for example in this case to win a competition, or from the competition organiser's position to promote the winning film) then it works just as if you had used a plumber or electrician. You need to pay to benefit from their skills. This is what copy-write is all about. it is the legal protection that is afforded to the writer for his/her lifetime and for a further 70 years after their death. After that 70 year period it becomes, what is generally known as, "in the public domain" and can be used by anybody (is royalty free). The competition organisers will not want to get involved in expensive court proceedings over the rights to songs or music, which is why they have applied the rule that you are asking about. If you have written it yourself then you can either waive the copywrite or give permission for the competition organisers to use it. Copywrite protection may seem a bit petty to some, but imagine if you wrote a song and sang it at a party.where somebody picked it up, recorded it, and got a hit record with it.They told everybody that you had written it but didn't pay you a penny for using it, even though they were now millionaires because of it's success. How would you feel? I don't necessarily agree with the way that the Performing Rights Society go about collecting royallities for songwriters, but those songwriters do need some protection in law. I hope that this helps you to understand the reason for the competition rule.

Answer 4

There are a lot of sites where you can buy Royalty Free Music. Most of them offers 100% Royalty Free music without ASCAM, BMI clearance. Try the following resources:

http://www.neosounds.com
http://www.soundrangers.com