Most free music sites do not offer the synchronization license required for K-12 and higher education. Check the license closely. Failure to comply with the license can result in you having to pay due penalties. This does happen frequently.
ONLY if the username(s) and password(s) will be password protected and cannot be viewed by the general public. If not password protected, we recommend placing something along the lines of "You must log in to have access to our school's music. See [teacher] for username and password." Displaying of usernames and passwords on non password protected websites can result in loss of licensing.
Yes! Once you have purchased a license for the music, that is 100% within your rights.
You may use 10% of a copyrighted piece of music for face-to-face instruction directly related to your course content. For example- if you are teaching on the transition of Classical to Romantic eras of music and you play a 10% piece of a Beethoven composition, this could fall under fair use. However, you may NOT safely use in a video, podcast, broadcast, PowerPoint or synchronize with any other form of multimedia without written permission from the copyright holder. You also may not post to website or record in any format. The U.S. Copyright Office also states: "The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines or notes that may be safely taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission."
By individual school site. Blanket licenses are available for districts, regions, and consortiums; however, sites must be accounted for in the purchase. Bulk pricing is available by calling 888-834-1792. Soundzabound is the only royalty free music for education which meets all licensing requirements for grades K-12 and universities.
No. You purchased the song for home and personal use, not for public or educational use. You do not own the rights to the music; the copyright holder(s) own the rights to the material. And, you do not have synchronization rights to mechanically use the music.
By being a leader and doing it yourself. Regarding ethics, we cannot be hypocritical. No drugs at school means don't bring drugs to school. Obeying the laws on plagiarism means we do not plagiarize. In that case, we can no longer turn a blind eye or ear to the music copyright laws. The law is the law, and so long as it is, we obey it.
That is best demonstrated by our current artists and developers at Soundzabound. Many are in their early 20's, and only a short time ago were coming up through our local schools. Guess what? Now that they are creating and developing, they want to get paid for their works! Though your students may not understand ownership right now, in just a few short years, they will. How can they if you don't lead the way?
There are two major advantages to using Soundzabound over Creative Commons:
- Creative Commons has individual licensing scenarios specified by each user, therefore you a are dealing with multiple licensing scenarios that are all different. Soundzabound offers all content on one consistent license for multiple songs, artists and tracks.
- Creative Commons does not screen content for educational use. In the past, we have received links from Creative Commons users which contained pornographic content, racially offensive content and foul language. Soundzabound screens all content to ensure it is appropriate for use within education.