Flash - Is it illegal to use copyrighted music-

[Satur1n]

-when I've paid for the music by buying the album legally, the audio file has been set to reduced quality as Flash does by default, and the .SWF file has been set to protect from importing? Surely this protects it from being redistributed and therefore breaking laws.

I'd like to make an animation of one of my characters wearing headphones, bobbing her head to a song by KoЯn which is playing through her headphones.

Totally non-profit, I might add.

 

[Speedbump]

If you're not making money, there should be no issues. Just write somewhere on the pic (like small in the corner) the song and band name so they get credit.

 

[Kalamos]

I recall laws about fair use of short snippets of whole themes.

 

[ThaiIsHijacking]

My guess is that it doesn't matter whether its for profit or not - you really shouldn't be using it. In the back of my mind I seem to recall that snippets of a song might be allowed for purposes of review or criticism - but don't quote me on that.

However, given what you've said, even though my hunch is that it's still "illegal", you should be fine to use for your purposes. Credits and disclaimers etc. would be a good idea too.

 

[Bohemianne]

It's like they have to shutdown youtube first before they can stop you or do anything else. And yet, I am one of them who used my own original music for my preview trailers. Check it out if you like. http://annoxanti.com/multimedia.shtml

 

[WillGeorges]

Fair use is a legally gray area. Chances are pretty small you'd get in trouble for the thing you're describing, but it's never going to be entirely legal. If you want some music that you can freely use, I would suggest you pick some Creative-Commons Licensed material instead, like from Jamendo. Some nice stuff in there. No KoRn, though.

 

[Kleptomaniac]

Youtube generally allows videos if the song snippet is no more than 30 seconds, generally just enough to do a parody, but not enough to share the whole song. I would go no longer than that if you wanted to play it safe. You could also try to find someone's cover or remix of the song and use that instead.