02-10-2010, 02:00 PM

I'm thinking of doing some podcasts, and I'll want to use some music both in the background and as drop-ins.

Having said that...what kind of fair use issues in the US would I need to keep in mind?? The drop-ins wouldn't be more than 10 seconds at the absolute max, I'm thinking...and what could I get away with as a music bed when I talk?? I kind of need to use copyrighted material or it'd defeat the purpose...

02-10-2010, 03:25 PM

Have a read of this

http://www.bradrollans.com/Podcasting.pdf


You can contact the author at his site

Brad Rollans.com

02-10-2010, 10:16 PM

there is a huge amount of CC (creative commons) licensed music out there. music.podshow.com even has some bumpers and intro tracks. Most of these artist will allow you to chop up a song to use, but contact them first.

Interested why you need to use copyrighted material.

02-11-2010, 03:00 PM

boneheadz - the podcasts I was thinking of doing are specific to a well-known band. The reason I even worried about fair use in the first place is that the lead singer of this band is notorious for suing people left and right (and usually winning, no matter how trivial or frivolous) -- to the point that I'm not even going to mention the band or the singer for fear of being sued just for saying that. I'll just call them "Band X." And I'm not kidding when I say that the lead singer has spent more time testifying as a plaintiff than he ever spent in a recording studio.

But I love the music, and there's a pretty strong fan base that would find this kind of thing interesting. I was thinking of doing five- or ten-minute podcasts that focus on one particular aspect per show, like one about the background noises you can hear in the music despite the leader being a perfectionist. "So, if you listen to this little bit from 'Song Y,' you'll hear that while the harmonies are note-perfect, a music stand falls over." And of course, I'd play that two seconds from "Song Y."

The background music I'm not so worried about; I could always use a PD music bed that uses a similar music style.

louishen -- thanks for the link. I read the article and was surprised...personally I just think it's a way for the music industry to make every single penny it can any time music is so much thought about. I did e-mail the author and ask about fair use and how that could possibly be used.

02-11-2010, 10:49 PM

I think you could build a pretty good podcast by doing what you plan, but don't use their music. Play CC songs by artists who list band x as an influence. Don't use bands x's stuff just suggest that the listener have a listen on there own. You can even organize your show to prompt he listener to break away for the podcast and have listen, likely they will own the song.