hi i have some questions about copyright issues. i am making a 2.5D topdown shooter and i want to add some audio tracks and i don't know if i have to do anything like say the name of the band etc. any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
If you're looking for good, free music, there's Where can I find music for my game?
Otherwise, anything that is copyrighted, requires the copyright owner's permission to use - regardless of whether you intend to make money with the project or not. There are certain very limited exceptions, like Fair Use, but that generally only applies to educational projects that use short excerpts of the material, not an entire piece.
Granted - if you aren't making money, the copyright owners probably won't come after you - but that's not the same as saying they can't legally.
It does also depend on the country - if you're in the US or other Berne Convention signatory countries, then definitely you need permission. I know there are some users in countries like Iran, and I don't know what the agreements are between those countries and the US.
Granted, they dropped the lawsuit after massive negative publicity, but still.
It is illegal to sell any product with another band's lyrics even if you include there name unless you ask them and get a signed permission slip. But if you are not planning to make even a dime off of your game than it is perfectly legal, though it is nice to include the bands name. I'm not sure if these rules apply if you are putting your game on the internet though... Here is a wiki site about copyrighting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright#Copyright_enforcement
But if you really want to stay clean you should compose your own music that way you won't "accidently" break any laws. Hope this helps!!
Note: These rules only apply in Canada!