fritzified.com

Everyone who makes video blogs should read this, IMHO.

Being responsible bloggers, in as much as possible, we choose to only publish works that are truly our own. We try to be conscious about copyright and practice necessary attribution whenever we publish materials painstakingly made/created by another IF at all we use works done by other people. A text inquiry from Lorna made me plurk about the concern she brought up regarding the not-so-free use of FreeplayMusic mp3s in vlogs. Surprised, I decided to find the truth out myself by sending an email to FreeplayMusic directly (disclosing who I am and my URL in the process).

Only recently did I find out that my fear and Lorna’s are indeed founded.

The email exchange between me and Julie of FreeplayMusic went like this:

From Fritz:

“I’ve read the freeplaymusic.com rate card and I was wondering whether my interpretation of the stipulations you have presented is correct. Does it mean that if I use an Indie music in one of my video blogs, for as long as it is under 4 minutes per episode and I attribute the artist and Free Play Music accordingly, I am then not required to pay the minimum rate? I think I usedfreeplaymusic.com downloaded mp3s in about 2 of my previous under-4-minute video blogs and that I made the proper attributions (as a responsible blogger) but I nevertheless felt the need to email you to clarify if indeed my interpretation holds true. I shall gladly take alleged videos down and replace them with royalty free music elsewhere if I am indeed to be charged. Heh, I’m cheap like that (chuckles) and besides, I don’t earn a single cent from blogging. Passion is what drives me to maintain the ad-free site.”

Reply from Julie (in behalf of Scott):

“I am writing on behalf of Scott with Freeplay Music. We appreciate you contacting us to ensure proper use of our music. Use of Freeplay Music in a video blog does require a paid license to be secured with us. We make every effort to keep the cost for personal use minimal. One year of personal web video use will cost $25 for background use and $50 for opening/closing use, per music title, per 4 minutes of use, to license with us. Please provide me with the following information which is needed to prepare a retro-active license which is required for your prior use:

Licensee name/address/tel/fax:
Name of Authorized Signing Party:
Title of your Production:
Name of Freeplay titles selected:
URL:
Start Date:

I will then e-mail a simple one-page license, to be signed and faxed back to us, along with payment options/instructions. We accept payment by credit card, PayPal or by check. Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me and I’d be happy to further assist you.

We appreciate your interest in Freeplay Music and look forward to hearing from you.”

Irked at the lack of relevant info, I sent this reply:

“Hi Julie:

I have questions and most of them weren’t answered. I am unsatisfied by the seemingly canned response. Please reread my original email and ellaborate more on the more pertinent matters.

Again, thanks and best regards.”

Clarification came in at last:

“Fritz,

I apologize if I have not answered your questions. The way I understand your e-mail, your questions are as follows:

1. I’ve read the freeplaymusic.com rate card and I was wondering whether my interpretation of the stipulations you have presented is correct. Does it mean that if I use an Indie music in one of my video blogs, for as long as it is under 4 minutes per episode and I attribute the artist and Free Play Music accordingly, I am then not required to pay the minimum rate?

No, you are required to pay a licensing fee. Our rates are per 4 minutes of use, using less than 4 minutes does not reduce or eliminate the licensing fee. We also require screen credit be attributed to www.freeplaymusic.com as a part of our standard license agreement. Attributing credit does not mean that the music can be used without paying a fee.

2. I think I used freeplaymusic.com downloaded mp3s in about 2 of my previous under-4-minute video blogs and that I made the proper attributions (as a responsible blogger) but I nevertheless felt the need to email you to clarify if indeed my interpretation holds true. I shall gladly take alleged videos down and replace them with royalty free music elsewhere if I am indeed to be charged.

Because the music has been used, a retro-active license will need to be obtained. I will be happy to assist you through this process. Please provide me with the information requested in my previous e-mail which I will need to prepare the license. For your reference, our standard rates for one year of personal video use are:

PRODUCTION LIBRARY
$25 for background use
$50 for opening/closing

INDIE LIBRARY
$75 for background use
$150 for opening/closing

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

It’s crystal clear that FreeplayMusic.com may not be used in vlogs in the absence of a license agreement between the vlogger and the source website. This license can be acquired if we pay the license fee, despite the length of music you used that came from their site, depending on the use and what part of the video you used it for.

I made the following reply soon after:

“Thanks for the clarification, Julie. From my review of the short video blogs I made, I have seen that I have only used freeplaymusic (complete with attribution) once in a 20 second video. I have mistakenly confused a music file I got from incompetech.com by Kevin McLeod as coming from your site for the other video I mentioned. So, two videos, one’s from incompetech, and the other one, 20 measly seconds from yours, is what I’ve made so far. I have taken down the 20 second video and will replace [the music from] it with another truly “royalty free” and free to use music.

I have stumbled upon freeplaymusic.com from recommendations all over, probably missing or misinterpreting the fine print stipulation in your website that use for broadcast, personal or otherwise, of freeplaymusic.com music is free as long as we stipulate and appropriately attribute the artist and freeplaymusic.com is already enough for us to use your material. That seems to be a general misconception as I’ve read that [a video hosting site] before recommended this site as a resource for free-to-use royalty free music which is [what prompted me to] directly emailing you guys on the matter was the right thing to do.

As I have mentioned, since views for said video had only been mine to date plus around give or take a couple others, I have taken down the video. I’ll be replacing it with music from another free music resource site.

Thanks and more power to you and freeplaymusic.com.”

I hope this helped clear matters for you as well. If in case you are wondering where you can get your background music now, you may check out the sites below. There are other sites and artists out there as well who offer free use of their material in exchange for the minimum proper attribution. If you happen to know some more, please suggest them in the comment area if you may. Here are the music resources I found so far:

• www.jmtr.com (free to use “as long as you credit “Jonathon Roberts (jmtr.com)” per the site’s FAQ)
• www.jimmyg.us (credit the site and author for free use. See FAQ for details. Registration required)
• www.incompetech.com (by Kevin McLeod. See FAQ for attribution requirements)
• www.mobygratis.com (by Moby. I can’t believe it myself. I had to squint at the text and look for a fine print describing how we should get the license but there’s none. Register for a login name and use away. Read about the details from said site)