Borrowing music for my game...

[joe_rogers_11155]

So what's the written or unofficial policy surrounding the use of real music in my game?

Let me give you a hypothetical...let's say I have an action sequence that would sound AWESOME with Mudvayne's new single playing right there in the game.

So I decide, what the hell, I'll package it and distribute it in my WICKED AWESOME mod, named "WICKED AWESOME".

What happens? Do I get in trouble? Does Mudvayne come knock on my doorstep to whip my ass? Or will they say, "Hey, your mod was WICKED AWESOME, we want to make music just for your mod!!"

What would Valve say?

Because mods are free...and downloading music is...well, it's illegal. But everybody does that anyways. So would I get away with it because of its association, even if I credit the big-name band?

[theCommie]

The way I see it, unless your mod becomes extremely popular, Mudvayne could care less. Nit-picky mod-makers on the other hand...

[joe_rogers_11155]

...on the other hand...come on spit it out. what will they think? I'm hoping to find out what the official or un-official rule is from the modding community.

I mean, even if I take a snippet from a famous guitar riff and loop it a thousand times. Like Tool's "Lateralus" or something. That's the question I'm asking.

[Oakley]

In the modding community I would imagine it is at the very least heavily frowned up on.

I would also like to add that I really couldn't see any music fitting in a game. I mean pop music, anything you'd hear on the radio or see on the TV. It would feel extremely odd, especially with vocals. Music in a game is supposed to be almost unheard by the player. The player is never going to sit there in the game and think "Shit this is a rockin' piece of music, I'm going to stand here and listen for a while". The music in a game is supposed to be tailored around the action, or experience particular to that scene/level.

Bottom line, go ahead, you wont get in trouble, but it'll make your mod shitty.

Basically, if you are thinking of doing what you described...don't.

[Megadude]

Unless you get their permission, it's technically illegal. Since it's a big band, their record company will have big lawyers, which will mean big lawsuit against you. It's best to avoid it.

[srredfire]

No one will care. Obviously people would give you more credit if you composed original music for your own mod, but I mean no one is going to shun you for it.

[vcool]

The above is correct. If they sue you, they sue you pretty hard, and to be honest, from my personal experience with lawyers over the past few months you'd be better off faking your death and running to Alaska than sorting out some petty argument over a song used in a mod for a year. You probably could make it into papers though

In reality, however, it is VERY improbable you'll get sued. The most you'll ever get is what Oakley said - heavy frowns from the modding community. A casual player couldn't care less where you took the music from and whether it is legal.

You COULD try sending a nicely written e-mail to Mudvayne asking for permission to use their song in a mod. You could somehow imply in the e-mail that it'll work somewhat like advertising them, since a player who will like the song may look into their albums and may potentially become a fan. I don't actually know whether it'll be their record company or themselves to decide, though. If it's the company, I am 100% certain they will say no and tell you to go fuck yourself. If it's the band, there is a pretty big chance they'll say yes. Of course you ahve to tell them you love them in that e-mail for it to work.

[theCommie]

The problem is, mod-makers cannot encrypt their files; the music file would be available in the mod archives for anyone smart enough to look for it (almost anyone I'd imagine) and that counts as illegal distribution if the lawyers are bothered.

Like everyone said, though; they won't really care because, chances are, no-one outside the mod community will probably even know.

[dissonance]

Since the idea of fair use doesn't exist in America anymore, it's illegal regardless of whether or not you have the artist's permission. If you want to use copyrighted music, you're going to have to pay royalties, no matter what.
The best solution would probably be to call for the files in the mod, but not ship the mod with them included. Add a readme or something telling users what songs they will have to provide, what to name them, and where to put them.

[joe_dirt976]

this needs to be shown

anywho, your best bet is to do what dissonance suggested.

[joe_rogers_11155]

To the people who think I wanted to include a whole song, beginning and end, with voices and everything...not gonna happen. I think having a guy siging in the back of a HL2 fight is retarded. What I'm thinking about doing is taking a small piece of a song and using sound editing software to turn it into a short pseudo-ambience track. See bands like Tool or The Mars Volta to understand what kind of gaming atmosphere I'm going for. The Mars Volta, especially, could provide a large number of my ambience tracks, thanks to their 40-minute songs and whatnot (...come on TMV fans, show me you're out there).

So, with my intentions clearly defined, are you willing to change your opinion of the action? Is it still gonna be expressly illegal? (Of course, since I'm modifying a song and shortening it and stuff, regular people won't have it to be called upon by the mod.)

And consider this, as well...modder Leon's "Coastline to Atmosphere" mod for Half-Life 2...

http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/leons-coastline-to-atmosphere-single-player-half-life-2-mod/

...borrowed musical sequences from famous video games and movies instead of bands. He lists the source games and movies in his credits. (The mod is incredibly difficult on the combat side...but if you're into battling an incessant number of Combine at every turn, I encourage this mod for competent level design.)

Would he be frowned upon in this community? Just because I haven't seen anybody mentioning the mod's use of other games' music, doesn't mean it's ok, you know?

PS: Nice use of poster!! I wonder how the guy with the Communist flag as an avatar would enjoy that.

[stoopdapoop]

I would also like to add that I really couldn't see any music fitting in a game. I mean pop music, anything you'd hear on the radio or see on the TV. It would feel extremely odd, especially with vocals. Music in a game is supposed to be almost unheard by the player. The player is never going to sit there in the game and think "Shit this is a rockin' piece of music, I'm going to stand here and listen for a while". The music in a game is supposed to be tailored around the action, or experience particular to that scene/level.

This is the truth, I'd be pretty upset if I was playing a sweet mod then all of a sudden a song from mudvayne started playing or a song from anything for that matter.

[joe_rogers_11155]

Sorry, edited previous post.

[vcool]

PS: Nice use of poster!! I wonder how the guy with the Communist flag as an avatar would enjoy that.

Not only him.

[Acheron]

Because mods are free...and downloading music is...well, it's illegal. But everybody does that anyways.

That's not a good enough reason though unfortunately, you can do it but on the off chance (it's rare but hey, stranger things have happened) of something happening well, anything is possible really.

If it's just a simple guitar riff or something you could try record it yourself (or get someone else to do it if it's possible) you could even alter it to suit the game moreso than the original. Though then that depends on if you can play/record/etc.

I would think as someone said above, the group themselves probably wouldn't mind, it'd be more likely that the actual label would beat your ass, with fine tailored suits wielding briefcases as clubs.