September 14th, 2007

Royalty Free Music and the Creative Commons License

The concept of royalty free music and the idea behind the Creative Commons License are not really all that different. Both have improved the selection and quality of affordable production music and background music to give professionals looking to expand their royalty free music libraries and other collections the ability and freedom to create high-quality finished creative projects. And both royalty free music companies and the government of works by Creative Commons licenses have created understandable ways to share and distribute music without worry about the complexities of complying with the fine points of Copyright Law.

The Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization that expands the number of creative works, including production music and background music available publically so people can share them and perform new interpretations and re-arrangements. The Creative Commons website is a place for musicians and artists to go to give some of their rights to the public. By using the Creative Commons license, musicians can keep control and ownership of their own creative pieces. The different licensing and contracting plans dictate how the music can be shared and performed.

The Creative Commons has responded to some of the Copyright Law and Public Domain complications caused by the Internet and particularly music file sharing programs and capabilities. The ability for musicians and artists to get some Creative Commons licenses for free as they release their music - including some background music and production music mp3s - online has helped decrease costs for copyright holders and musicians. Also, the CC website offers important information regarding works covered by Creative Commons licenses so those looking for particular pieces of background music know exactly how its use is governed by law.

There are six different types of Creative Commons licenses:

1. "Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives:" Simply put, this type of Creative Commons license allows a musician to share production music or background music with others but continue to be listed in the credits for the piece of music. It also prevents anyone else from altering the work or making money from it.

2. "Attribution, Non-Commercial Share Alike:" This Creative Commons license type allows others to use the recordings and re-interpret them. But the resulting new work has to be licensed the same as the original and cannot be for profit.

3. "Attribution Non-Commercial:" This type of license allows additional people to re-interpret the work but the original creator has to be listed in the credits and no money can be made from the recording.

4. "Attribution, No Derivatives:" This Creative Commons license dictates that the production music or background music can be shared with everyone, but the original creator's name has to be listed in the credits and the song cannot be altered.

5. "Attribution Share Alike:" This type of license states that the piece of production music licensed can be shared, altered or distributed for profit, but the work's creator has to be listed in the credits, and the work has to be licensed exactly as the original.

6. "Attribution:" This type of Creative Commons license states that the production music track can be used in any way imaginable, but dictates that the original creator of the song has to be listed in the credits.

The idea of the license for royalty free music is very similar to the concept behind the Creative Commons license as it applies to background music and production music, but the terms are very simple. When you purchase high quality royalty free music from reputable production music and background music libraries such as RoyaltyFreeMusic.com, you pay a one-time, comparably low fee upfront for unlimited use of the music for a lifetime.

Royalty free music has provided another viable alternative for those looking to share music and use music without worrying about very expensive and often on-going fees associated with satisfying the copyright protection of music from major music providers. High quality libraries of royalty free music in the form of production music give the opportunity for professionals and artists in any field to inexpensively use music for any purpose, indefinitely without worrying about many complicated legal issues.

The initiatives of the CC, including but not limited to the Creative Commons licenses are designed to help appropriately manage production music and all types of music as the information sharing culture gets more intense. The Creative Commons has joined royalty free music companies and others trying to provide alternatives for artists, musicians, writers, film and television directors and producers that want to have options beyond the expensive and all-encompassing practices of major music providers and film companies that have taken a strong hold on the way production music and background music can be used by creative professionals.

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