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This service is meant for music that is not registered to a right collection society (sometimes called -it's quite misleading- 'royalty free music'). If you find a song from an artist that is registered to a right collection society please delete it. Refer to the ID3 tags in the song you stream (song informations provided by your media player) for licensing information. No info provided is likely to mean that the artist(s) retains all the rights and that you'll have to negociate with him/her/them if you want to reuse the work. Remember that most conditions stated by any licensing scheme can be waived for a particular use ; get in touch with the artist(s) to have him/her/them granting you such a waiving. Please note that any information provided in the song's ID3 tags are due to the artist(s) and may be inacurate. It is always a very good idea to get in touch with him/her/them before doing anything. Also, if some informations are contradictory, get in touch with him/her/them.
A quick guide to music that is not registered to any collection right society
There's two possibilities :
-if you can find an url (internet address) in the field named "comment" of the song you are listening to, you should visit it, and see if this is a webpage defining a license. If so, this means that this song is released under this license. A license is simply a list of the rights granted by the artist and conditions that applies. Remember that most of these conditions can be waived by the artist(s) for a particular use.
-if you can't find an url, or if you find an url that doesn't lead to a webpage defining a license, this means that the song is released under the terms of the standard copyright (all right reserved). You may negociate directly with the artist(s) for having him/her/them granting you a right to re-use the music for any purpose, and/or for communicating it to the audience by any mean.
In any case, you should get in touch with the artist(s) before you actually do anything with the music. That's the better way to avoid problems.
Concerning the music that is released under the terms of such or such license outside standard copyright, here's a quick and uncomplete summary of what you may be able to do, or not :
-You may have to communicate to the audience the rights granted by the artist(s) for their work. A quick and easy way to do so is by mentioning the url of the license.
-The license may ask for the artist to be credited (attribution, sometimes summed up as a 'by' condition). In many countries this is also mandatory according to the law - in such case you will not be able to ask for a waiving of this condition.
-The license may ask for the use of the work to be strictly non-commercial (sometimes summed up as a 'nc' condition). If you want to use the work in a way that implies a commercial exploitation, you must ask the artist(s) for a waiving of this condition.
-The license may ask for work derivated from the music (for example, a video featuring it, a cover of it, another song sampling it) to be placed under the terms of the same license than the music itself (sometimes summed up as a 'sa' (for 'share-alike') condition). If you do not wish to do so, you will have to negociate with the artist(s) for a waiving of this condition for your particular use.
-The license may forbid any derivated work (sometimes summed up as a 'nd' condition). If you want to use this music in a derivative work (a video, a videogame, a cover, a song using a sample from this song, anything in fact), you must ask the artist(s) for a waiving of this condition for your particular use.
There's many licenses and license variants combining such or such of these conditions.
for example, a by only license grant you many rights ; you can do many things, such as using the music for commercial purposes, or creating derivated work and license them under any licensing scheme including standard copyright, providing attribution is given.
a by-nc license also grant you many things (basically, almost the same as above), but the use must be stricly non-commercial including for derivative works, unless the artist(s) grants you a waiving. (and attribution must be given).
a by-sa license implies that derivated works will also be licensed under the same by-sa license, unless the artist(s) grants you a waiving. Attribution must be given.
a by-nd license implies the same rights as a by license, excepting that it is forbidden to create derivated works, unless you got an explicit right granted by the artist(s) to do so. Also, as usual, attribution must be given.
a by-nc-sa license implies the use is non-commercial AND the derivative works are issued under the same license, unless you got a waiving granted by the artist(s). Attribution must be given.
a by-nc-nd license is almost the same, excepting the fact that derivative works are forbidden, unless you got a waiving granted by the artist(s).
Please note that while we explicitely ask our featured artist to indicate the license URL (internet address) in the comment field of their songs, there's a possibility that some of them simply indicate the license name, or forget to mention it. Such files should be removed from the playlist by anyone thinking this site worths to have accurate information featured on it. But in any case, before you make any use of any song we feature, you should absolutely get in touch with the artist(s) and explain what you are wanting to do - this can avoid big problems to raise.
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