Background Music

[Halo]

I really enjoy flight sim films and am wondering how film makers decide what music they can legally use as background music for their films.  

Copyrights and fair use considerations seem to allow using most music for a film viewed only by the originator or maybe family at home (or for educational purposes or criticism), but what about for films shown here on the Aces High forum or for other public audiences?

Not trying to rain on anybody's film, just trying to clarify the rules for when I start making some films of my own.

[Mak333]

Download the music files, or rip em from a CD.  Add them to your track.  All ya gotta do next is add credits at the end stating the sources and who composed the song.

[ALF]

Other than:
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Using royalty free music

Using music specifically permited to be used in such a way (for example I use SonicFire)

Getting expressed written permision

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You are at the whim of what some activist judge decides is FAIR USE.  In all reality, provided your distribution stays low, you'll never hear a word from anyone on this issue.  I try and use non commercial music now becuase some of my movies have gotten some publicity on major websites, and I just dont need to have to reencode a movie (and re-edit for artistic emphasis) after recieving some crappy cease and desist letter.

While SonicFire is good, its kinda pricey, and for a more real feel...Id encourage you to contact small independant bands.  Most would give you permision to use their music for free, cause they'd love the plug in the credits!

[Mak333]

What ALF said.  You can use music that has gone public such as CD's or soundtracks, but I wouldnt be posting them on websites that get alot of hits per day.