Scratch

obsidiousshade · 2012-07-04 22:52:41

All right, my bro and I have been wondering about this question for a while and I finally decided to try to get an answer on here. So here goes: is it legal for Scratchers to use copyrighted songs in their projects and for other Scratchers to download these songs onto their computers? I once had the idea to maybe do an animation to the Owl City song "Galaxies" but wasn't sure about the copyrights, so I didn't do it. Also, both Astro947 and Swifty2 have done music videos to the Parry Gripp song "Your iPhone is Broken." This song is also available for purchase on iTunes, just like "Galaxies." I tried reading about this sort of thing on the Internet, and I got something about "fair use." I'm not sure what this means, but from what I understood it generally applies to research papers and stuff like that. There wasn't anything on copyrighted songs on Scratch, so I have no clue what the rules are on this. I don't want to harm the artists who make these great songs, but I'd also love to use them in some videos. Does anyone know about these copyrights?

hdarken · 2012-07-04 22:56:42

I've seen a few projects with copyrighted songs.
I think its legal to put them on your projects but I think it's illegal to save a downloaded a copyrighted song from a Scratch project on your computer.

cheddargirl · 2012-07-05 03:27:49

Hi obsidiousshade,

Generally, the use of copyrighted songs on Scratch are covered under the "Fair Use" clause because Scratch is a EDU website and the projects on Scratch are used for educational purposes.

That being said, if you don't feel okay with using the copyrighted songs because you don't want others to download without paying for the song, that's fine, too, there are a lot of websites with free music that have permissive licenses for use. smile

Last edited by cheddargirl (2012-07-05 03:40:14)

jji7skyline · 2012-07-05 03:29:18

cheddargirl wrote:
Hi obsidiousshade,

Generally, the use of copyrighted songs on Scratch are covered under the "Fair Use" clause because Scratch is a EDU website and the projects on Scratch are used for educational purposes.

That being said, if you don't feel okay with using the copyrighted songs because you don't want others to download without paying for the song, that's fine, too, there are a lot of websites with free music that permissive licenses for use.

Yup, it's not illegal to put copyrighted songs on Scratch Projects as long as it's not for commercial purposes.

Mostly, you're just creating Scratch Projects to learn programming and share creations with your online acquaintances, not to make money so it's all fine smile

obsidiousshade · 2012-07-12 13:48:54

All right thanks everyone. That clears up a lot. I tried to read a little about fair use, but it mostly covered books and such. But this helps a bunch and clears my conscience too!

Scratch

archived forums

#1 2012-07-04 22:52:41

Copyrights on Songs?

#2 2012-07-04 22:56:42

Re: Copyrights on Songs?

#3 2012-07-05 03:27:49

Re: Copyrights on Songs?

#4 2012-07-05 03:29:18

Re: Copyrights on Songs?

cheddargirl wrote:

#5 2012-07-12 13:48:54

Re: Copyrights on Songs?

Board footer