Emily's+Page

=PowerPoint and Music = = = You're working on a PowerPoint presentation on Bruce Springsteen and his political views. To enhance your PowerPoint to make it more interesting for the audience, you decide to put a clip of some of Springsteen's politically charged songs. But, you're not sure how long the clip could be, or if you could even put the sound clip in. Well, you're in luck! You can put a music clip into your PowerPoint.

First, your music has to be evaluated, to make sure the words themselves aren't copyrighted.  If the song is okay to use, there is still somewhat of a "catch". The "catch" is that you can't use any more than 30 seconds, or 10%, of the song/musical piece, which ever is less. The reason being is that the little bit of music you use is the right amount without infringing on the artists' rights. If you use more, you might have to pay the publisher/artist for the rights of the music. By following the 30 second/ 10% rule, you're within the legal limits of music use and you can still use the song to get your point across!

=The Economy and Music= Though fair use may may sound unnecessary and tedious, it does have a benefit. Musical artists and others worked hard to make these pieces of work and to use the whole song for free is very unfair. Because you are only using 30 seconds/ 10% of the song/musical piece, you are using enough to get your point across and not too much to where you're completely ripping off the artist. If you use more than that, you are basically taking the song for free. And taking the song for free isn't fair, because how would you feel if your work was taken in whole and used, without your permission? You would feel ripped off, like the musical artist, because you wouldn't get paid.

There is an economic benefit by following the 30/10 rule. Music sales have gone up because of the following the Fair Use rules. So when doing a project which requires music, remember the 30/10% rule would come in handy. The rule will help protect the rights of an artist and will still enable you to use their work for free. The artist has a right to be paid, but if you are only using the 30 second/10% rule, you are using the right amount of work in which you can use music to get your point across while not using too much to the point where the artist would get mad and possibly sue you. So remember, whenever you need to use music in a presentation, use the 30 second/10% rule, because everyone would end up benefiting from your decision!

Sources: http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/copyrightlaw.html http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/12/2252239 Picture: http://search.creativecommons.org/