Can I use 10 seconds of Michael Jackson song in my game?

News & General Discussion
1

Hi all,
In a scene (just one scene) I want my character to do moonwalking dance with background music, can I do it without right violation?

2

Sure, if you wanna risk getting sued.
why would you think it’s okay?

you can do a moon walk to a (public domain/you own) soundtrack resembling a mj song, but not an actual mj song.

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3

Not worth the risk.

4

thanks all
(for buying me a valid license)

5

If you decide to go against law definitely use “Smooth Criminal” piece.

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6

The answer depends on the copyright laws in your area, all markets you would distribute your game, and how you’re using the copyrighted work. The United States for example has a concept called “fair use”, where it is permissible to use copyrighted works for specific purposes. For example, use for commentary or parody is permissible under “fair use”. So if you were making a parody of an MJ music video, you would probably be fine in theory.

A few problems though.

  • “Fair Use” is a defense in court, but does nothing to prevent you from either being sued or your platform/publisher being sued or removing your content to avoid being sued. It can be extremely expensive to battle a copyright case through the courts, even if chances are you would come out ahead.
  • “Fair Use” is a doctrine in US copyright law, but most likely your target market is larger than just this one country. You’d be vulnerable to lawsuits in any country which lacks an analog to Fair Use, even though the copyright holders of the MJ catalog are US based I believe.

IANAL, but you should talk to one

7

I see your user name and think you’ll be out of jurisdiction of US copyright laws. But it doesn’t worth it to try.

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8

Nah, don’t do that. His tunes are so famous, that you will end up being sued instantly.

Instead, download a free DAW, be a smooth criminal, and make up your own short Michael Jackson song.:sunglasses:

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