Copyright-Free Bluegrass?
March 5, 2010 8:55 AM
Copyright-free bluegrass music in mp3 or wav format -- anyone know where I can get me some?
I want to use a bluegrass tune on my dad's Legacy website. He liked bluegrass and traditional down-home music from Appalachia in particular (but not limited to that that style). I'd like to find a selection of mp3s or wavs that are not copyrighted so I could listen to them, find one my dad would have liked, and upload it to the Legacy site without violating copyright. I thought Internet Archive was going to solve my problem but their works all seem to be copyrighted unless for educational or scholarship purposes. Thanks.
I want to use a bluegrass tune on my dad's Legacy website. He liked bluegrass and traditional down-home music from Appalachia in particular (but not limited to that that style). I'd like to find a selection of mp3s or wavs that are not copyrighted so I could listen to them, find one my dad would have liked, and upload it to the Legacy site without violating copyright. I thought Internet Archive was going to solve my problem but their works all seem to be copyrighted unless for educational or scholarship purposes. Thanks.
Yes, I tried it and found lots of songs but the copyright notice on their site indicates that their material can be used only for educational and scholarship purposes.
posted by mmw at 9:05 AM on March 5, 2010
posted by mmw at 9:05 AM on March 5, 2010
Head over to Banjo Hangout, make an account, and post a message asking for contributions, offering to credit the chosen recording in the Legacy site. Banjo Hangout is full of awesome (and talented!) guys and I'm sure you'd get some free recordings from the Hangout members themselves to use as you see fit, as long as you confine use to the stated purpose.
posted by Shepherd at 9:07 AM on March 5, 2010
posted by Shepherd at 9:07 AM on March 5, 2010
If you know the name of some of the songs or groups or performers, Puniz is something you might use. It will find down-loadable MP3's for you.
posted by willmize at 9:19 AM on March 5, 2010
posted by willmize at 9:19 AM on March 5, 2010
ibiblio the University of North Carolina's digital library might have some.
posted by nangar at 9:27 AM on March 5, 2010
posted by nangar at 9:27 AM on March 5, 2010
Maybe take a look through the Free Music Archive. Original Metafilter post about it here.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:47 AM on March 5, 2010
posted by backseatpilot at 9:47 AM on March 5, 2010
Thanks for the good ideas. I think the Free Music Archive has just what I want!
posted by mmw at 10:08 AM on March 5, 2010
posted by mmw at 10:08 AM on March 5, 2010
but the copyright notice on their site indicates that their material can be used only for educational and scholarship purposes.
Just to clarify, they're talking about access to their site; each uploader is able to specify the license under which they share their work. If you find work that's in the public domain, IA cannot further dictate to you what you can do with that. If you find work that's licensed using Creative Commons, you still need to obey the terms of that license, but that's it.
If you are concerned about commercial use, which IA DO mention in their terms of use, it's always best to contact the artist directly, but many content aggregators that I'm aware of do not do that if the content creator has already specified a commercial-use license.
In short I think IA need to re-word their terms, but I think it's meant to save them legal trouble in case one of their users uploads copyrighted or harshly-licensed material.
You can think of it as a catalog -- if you find something you like, and the license looks permissive, feel free to contact the artist and they'll probably be OK with you using it (based on my experience).
posted by circular at 10:53 AM on March 5, 2010
Just to clarify, they're talking about access to their site; each uploader is able to specify the license under which they share their work. If you find work that's in the public domain, IA cannot further dictate to you what you can do with that. If you find work that's licensed using Creative Commons, you still need to obey the terms of that license, but that's it.
If you are concerned about commercial use, which IA DO mention in their terms of use, it's always best to contact the artist directly, but many content aggregators that I'm aware of do not do that if the content creator has already specified a commercial-use license.
In short I think IA need to re-word their terms, but I think it's meant to save them legal trouble in case one of their users uploads copyrighted or harshly-licensed material.
You can think of it as a catalog -- if you find something you like, and the license looks permissive, feel free to contact the artist and they'll probably be OK with you using it (based on my experience).
posted by circular at 10:53 AM on March 5, 2010
Thanks for clarification re Internet Archive policy, circular. I found what I needed at Free Music Archive this time but next time may give IA another shot.
posted by mmw at 5:52 PM on March 5, 2010
posted by mmw at 5:52 PM on March 5, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by circular at 9:00 AM on March 5, 2010