Many musicians release their songs under Creative Commons licenses, which give the legal right to use their music in our videos.
What is Creative Commons?
Creative Commons is a system, built upon current copyright law, that allows you to legally use “some rights reserved” music, movies, images, and other content — all for free. CC offers free copyright licenses that anyone can use (without a lawyer) to mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry.
Where can I find CC-licensed music?
Several sites offer music published under Creative Commons’ flexible copyright licenses. Here are some:
Can I use any song with a CC license on it?
Almost — you need to make sure that what you want to do with the music is OK under the terms of the license. CC-licensed music isn’t free for all uses, — so check the terms. Most importantly, use music that is not licensed under a No Derivative Works license. This means that the musician doesn’t want you to change, transform, or make a derivative work using their music. Under CC licenses, syncing the music to images amounts to transforming the music, so you can’t legally use a song under a CC No Derivative Works license in your video.
Also, make sure to properly credit the musician and the track, as well as express the CC license the track is under.
