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using a share-alike track for my film

(2 posts)
  • Started 7 months ago by rahul66
  • Latest reply from mlinksva

  1. rahul66
    Member

    I want to use a CC 'by-sa' licensed track for my film. Am I obliged to release my film under a CC license as well? I'm planning to send my film to various film festivals, and I can't afford to freely share it under a CC license, atleast for 1 year.

    I will be only using a part of the track(the first 30seconds or so). Going by the terms of share-alike, does using a bit/portion of a soundtrack constitute "alter, transform, or build upon" of the work?

    And what if I want to use a part from the middle of the track?

    Please note that I'm not modifying the track in any other way.

    Posted 7 months ago #

  2. mlinksva
    Mike Linksvayer

    Hi rahul66,

    First, I'm not a lawyer and am not/can't give you legal advice.

    If your film constitutes a derivative/adaptation of the audio track, the film would need to be CC BY-SA. Note that CC licenses explicitly say that

    For the avoidance of doubt, where the Work is a musical work, performance or phonogram, the synchronization of the Work in timed-relation with a moving image ("synching") will be considered an Adaptation for the purpose of this License.

    See 1a in http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

    It is conceivable that your use could be fair use, in which case you might not need permission at all (which is what the license gives you, under certain conditions), so you wouldn't need to abide by the license. But fair use is only a defense, has been narrowed considerably in recent decades, and film festivals might not consider your film to be cleared...

    You can always also seek permission directly from the copyright holder of the audio you want to use.

    Posted 7 months ago #

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