Questions about copyrights (sounds, music)

I would like to know what the stance is on additional art assets, especially sounds and music.

1. Is using royalty free sounds and music which I have bought the rights to use legit? I am sure it is but I would prefer to know exactly. And by bought the rights I mean I can prove that with receits.

2. How strict is the control on sort of non-legit sources? I have seen quite a few missions (not for the contest, but on the workshop) that use audio clips ripped from movies. Are these disqualified? It would be bad if a mission gets voted highly in the SP category because it just jams famous music clips from hans zimmer/john murphy and then gets far in the contest because the public vote usually does not care much about the copyright fineprint.

I would like to know what the stance is on additional art assets, especially sounds and music.

1. Is using royalty free sounds and music which I have bought the rights to use legit? I am sure it is but I would prefer to know exactly. And by bought the rights I mean I can prove that with receits.

2. How strict is the control on sort of non-legit sources? I have seen quite a few missions (not for the contest, but on the workshop) that use audio clips ripped from movies. Are these disqualified? It would be bad if a mission gets voted highly in the SP category because it just jams famous music clips from hans zimmer/john murphy and then gets far in the contest because the public vote usually does not care much about the copyright fineprint.

Hi alleycat, you can find the answers to your questions in the Make Arma Not War FAQ. Scroll down to 'Participant FAQ' and click on 'Third Party Content'. There's also a mention of this in the Contest Rules, but basically contest entries which use third-party content without consent will automatically be disqualified. Hope that answers your question!

The contest rules state:

I would like to legally purchase and obtain license for a third-party work (e.g. music) and use it in my contest entry. Can I do that?

It's not a problem as long as the license granted to you for such work does not contradict the Contest Rules (see section "Requirements and Submission of Entries"). All in all, this is entirely in the participant's responsibility, but we require mentioning of the source in an attached readme or otherwise let Bohemia Interactive know about any third-party works contained in a contest Entry.

If I bought audio files from this place from example:

http://www.sfxsource.com/

Welcome to SFXsource.com! We provide professional royalty free sound effects and royalty free music to download for use in media productions.

Their license info:

http://www.sfxsource.com/licensing.cfm

Licensing

When purchase media from this site, you are purchasing a license to use the media, not the media itself. The license grants you Synchronization Rights (allowing you to freely combine the media with other audio and/or visual elements), and Public Performance Rights (allowing you to play the synchronized media for an audience). You are also granted Mechanical Rights, allowing you to physically reproduce or distribute any media synchronized with other audio and/or visual elements. This type of license has been dubbed Royalty Free, and is granted worldwide and in perpetuity for you and you alone. The license is not transferrable to any third party.

The full End User License Agreement reads:

Then I am legally allowed to use the sound files I bought there in a contest like this?

Disclaimer; IANAL

If you have license, proof upon request, and a disclaimer in your entry (a simple .txt within the .pbo stating the use of the sounds, a list of said sounds, the possession of your license for usage/reproduction and renouncement of ownership of the sounds) you should be fine.

(f) Software. The right to use SAC as part of a software program (including a software based game); provided, that (i) SAC must be synchronized within the software package; and (ii) without an additional license from SFXS, SAC cannot be used (A) in commercial software whose primary purpose is to play back sound effects in a standalone manner that is not time-synchronized with a moving visual image, and where the sole intent of the sounds is to create an audible “notification†for the end user (e.g., ring tone software, alarm clock software, etc), (B) as part of an instant messaging application, © automated html template authoring service or application, (D) flash authoring service or application, or (E) other media authoring service or application library. Notwithstanding the foregoing, personal, noncommercial use of the sort described in 1 (f)(ii)(A) above is permitted and does not require an additional license.

I don't see anything there prohibiting the use of the sounds from sfxsource. It actually actively supports the kind of use you (probably, assuming it's simple playback during missions) intend, all the other prohibitions are very specific. Considering the contest entries are of a non-commercial nature, and they remain your creation I don't see anything barring you from entering. The only problem I see is that BIS might not be able to use any audio containing the licensed sounds taken from playback from your entry for promotional purposes as the license of the sound does not extend beyond you. The SFXsource license is very particular about that it isn't something you're allowed to extend. Then again, as the combination of the sound with your mission in essence constitutes a new work, with the focus of the work not being the sound and those reproduction rights to that lie with you (even with your license). Then it should be alright as long as BIS doesn't lift the sound in particular.

But these questions are probably best to get answered from SFXsource and BIS' legal council. You should contact SFXsource/BIS support and see what they think.

Oh, and do back-up those receipts.

This might sound like a strange question - it's not meant as a joke or something.

Is it allowed to use sounds which were recorded from Arma 3?

I mean: Record sounds with Audacity, export them as .ogg, implement them into description.ext and playSound or say them.

Thanks a lot for clarification.

Sorry for deviating slightly off topic: I want to make a little trailer before submitting my entry to the contest and I am struggling understanding the evolution of Youtube policy regarding music copyrights. Since the promotion video could be regarded as part of the entry, I would like to be sure of what I am doing ;).

What I understood: Before it was completely forbidden to use copyright music in videos. Now I am not sure since there are some new license agreements (songtrust, ASCAP etc.) which allows the artists to be paid directly from the advertising revenues. Hence it would seem logical that the use of musics from artists who registered to these kind of programs is allowed, but I didn't find any confirmation of that yet. I thought some copyright gurus here could provide an answer ;).

I will edit this post if I find some new intel.

I know one resourse with good royalty free music - http://www.melodyloops.com/