Is it legal to use extracted vocals in a remix of a commercial song?

[Smenelian]

And by extracted I mean taken from the song that is being remixed.

[zircon]

Huh? So you're taking the vocals from some piece of popular music, and using it in a video game remix? And do you mean "legal" as in legal under US law, or the OCR standards? OR are you talking about taking the vocals from a piece of popular music, and using them in a remix of that same piece?

[Yoozer]

No, you can't release it without clearing the samples.

No, you can't put it in an OCRemix.

No, downloading the material is already not that smart of a move to begin with.

[zircon]

Yoozer's right, though we would allow *SMALL* amounts of vocal sampling in an OC ReMix, potentially. And I do mean small.

[Smenelian]

Legal under US law. I'm not as scared of OCR coming after me.

It would not be something submitted to this site. It would be a remix of a non-video game song. I figured it would be illegal but I thought I'd ask. I have a remix SGX did of one of BT's songs and he used the original vocals, so it got me curious.

Yoozer, what downloaded material are you referring to?

[dannthr]

Fair use law clause:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000107----000-.html

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

If you're unsure how to interpret this clause, then I suggest you seek legal counsel.

[tgfoo]

I have a remix SGX did of one of BT's songs and he used the original vocals, so it got me curious.

BT released those so people could remix some of his songs, I believe it was part of a competition.

[Yoozer]

Yoozer, what downloaded material are you referring to?

Most acapella material is available that way, and it floats around on the P2P networks and on private forums/torrents. You didn't think people'd go hack the vocals out there themselves .

[Smenelian]

Well I was going to try "hacking" some vocals....although downloading is probably easier. In any case, I'm not going to do it if I can't release the song, even for free, without fear of getting busted.

Is there any way to get some (preferably free) legal vocal tracks? I searched google, but I don't know what to look for. Like the vocals from BT songs. Are those still around?

[Legion303]

I have a remix SGX did of one of BT's songs and he used the original vocals, so it got me curious.

As someone else mentioned, BT released an assload of acapellas for people to remix. Beastie Boys and NIN do it all the time too. Look at acidplanet.com for an incredible amount of legal remix packs (licensed only for their contests, but still legal in that context).

-steve

[Smenelian]

Hmm...anyone here ever entered one of the acidplanet contests? They have a whole bunch going on right now. Might be worth it to play around with remix packs and potentially win stuff too.