Need help with copyright stuff that I don't understand!

[CocoLuvsMuse]

Hey, I'm doing a short powerpoint/movie for a school project and I was hoping that I could use a Muse song in the background I'm not sure about copyright limits to the song (Supermassive Black Hole) though... Do I need to contact Muse requesting permission to use their music, and if so then how can I do this?
Thanks

P.S. If needed I will also ask for the teacher's permission, and I will credit the song and Muse at the end.

[Sippe]

Unless you intend to make any money of off it, I doubt there would be any problems.

[notsomuch]

Originally Posted by Sippe

Unless you intend to make any money of off it, I doubt there would be any problems.

google Fair Use restrictions (@ least for US);

bigger problem- make sure the sound file attached will play on another computer

[Sippe]

Originally Posted by notsomuch

google Fair Use restrictions (@ least for US);

Yes, your point?

Originally Posted by notsomuch

bigger problem- make sure the sound file attached will play on another computer

What?

[Sippe]

Fair Use and Teachers

Fair use explicitly allows use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Rather than listing exact limits of fair use, copyright law provides four standards for determination of the fair use exemption:

Purpose of use: Copying and using selected parts of copyrighted works for specific educational purposes qualifies as fair use, especially if the copies are made spontaneously, are used temporarily, and are not part of an anthology.
Nature of the work: For copying paragraphs from a copyrighted source, fair use easily applies. For copying a chapter, fair use may be questionable.
Proportion/extent of the material used: Duplicating excerpts that are short in relation to the entire copyrighted work or segments that do not reflect the "essence" of the work is usually considered fair use.
The effect on marketability: If there will be no reduction in sales because of copying or distribution, the fair use exemption is likely to apply. This is the most important of the four tests for fair use

Fair Use Restrictions for Face-to-Face Teaching: Single copy of up to 10% of a musical composition in print, sound, or multimedia form.

That is, if you can really bother with all that shit. You are using a song in a school video that I'm guessing you're gonna show to like 10-20 people on one occation. The risk of legal actions for using more than 10% of a song is probably as low as getting struck by lightning.

[Dr Leigh]

I think the better question is is why do you think muse would sue a fan for using a song in the first place? (or the record company)

[Sippe]

Originally Posted by Dr Leigh

I think the better question is is why do you think muse would sue a fan for using a song in the first place? (or the record company)

There would be a lot of reasons for that. Two of the most common would be:

1. If they make money because of it.
2. If they somehow would substantially lower the sales or reputation of the song or the band.

[Lupus]

Originally Posted by Sippe

There would be a lot of reasons for that. Two of the most common would be:

1. If they make money because of it.
2. If they somehow would substantially lower the sales or reputation of the song or the band.

That's right... they don't know how your going to use it. If any band found out about anyone using their music to their downfall, they wouldn't be impressed. But hey, the chance that they'd be scouring the web just to find you using it for a school project that's likely more of a promotion than anything... next to none.

[Lumiere]

If you were designing stuff with Muse on it and selling it, that would be illegal.
I've seen quite a few of that out there, I find it personally horrible.

If you just use it in a presentation and if you don't use the whole soundtrack, then it should be fine, right?
Just make sure to credit the band at the end.
That's how I see it.
It makes it more like a publicity as long as you don't make profit on their backs.

Might be repeating some stuff others said... Sorry bout that. :P

[Sippe]

Originally Posted by Lumiere

If you were designing stuff with Muse on it and selling it, that would be illegal.
I've seen quite a few of that out there, I find it personally horrible.

If you just use it in a presentation and if you don't use the whole soundtrack, then it should be fine, right?
Just make sure to credit the band at the end.
That's how I see it.
It makes it more like a publicity as long as you don't make profit on their backs.

Might be repeating some stuff others said... Sorry bout that. :P

Repeating exactly what has been said, yes.