Using Purchased Sound Effect Libraries in Videos

hcetiny

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Does anyone have experience with using sound effects on your videos from sound libraries that you purchased? One famous example is the BBC sound library. It is stated as royalty-free sound, but I'm not sure whether I can simply monetize it.

I know that there are lots of free sites offering sounds, but it takes lots of time for me to find the good quality sound I want to use. A library on my hard drive would be a faster solution.
 

DJBenz

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Depends on the license that comes with the sound effects. Youtube says this:

You can monetise royalty-free or Creative Commons content if the licence agreement grants you rights to use it commercially. Sometimes, rights owners require you to credit the creator of the content or provide proof of purchase in order to use it in your video for commercial purposes.
Source: support.google.com/youtube/answer/2490020?hl=en-GB
 
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Shehzad

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Check back with the website you brought it from it should state what the licence permits you to do. There are a variety of different types of licences and they will usually have an FAQ or licence section somewhere on the royalty free website. Usually they have an image of the licence next to the download here is a website that explains each licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/), they are near the bottom of the page. Otherwise the information should be available on the website detailing what you can do with with the sound effects.
 
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hcetiny

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Depends on the license that comes with the sound effects. Youtube says this:

Source: support.google.com/youtube/answer/2490020?hl=en-GB
Check back with the website you brought it from it should state what the licence permits you to do. There are a variety of different types of licences and they will usually have an FAQ or licence section somewhere on the royalty free website. Usually they have an image of the licence next to the download here is a website that explains each licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/), they are near the bottom of the page. Otherwise the information should be available on the website detailing what you can do with with the sound effects.
Thank you for the replies and the useful links. What I understand is that I need to look into the licence agreement in detail whether I can monetize my videos or not. I just don't want a copyright discussion because I used a 4 seconds bird sound from the BBC library.
 

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Shehzad

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Sure you can use them.
BUT.....You may not be able to use it and monetize.
So if you intend to monetize eventually, then you should check out this very important term.
Being royalty free itself isn't good enough.
Read this : http://yttalk.com/threads/u-dont-need-royalty-free-music-but-this-instead.196502/#post-1834259

So what you need isn't royalty free but music that you have permission or a license to use that you can 'fully monetize'.
Yh exactly the term Royalty Free Music get's passed around so much that people think Royalties effects online platforms. There are licences that come with it which you have to buy so you don't pay any royalties but some websites can confuse the term. Royalties don't apply to online platforms like YT they only really come into play when using it commercially but you still need permission to use music online which is where CC licence comes into play. Creative commons licence is the only licence that is regarded close to being free or "all rights reserved" type of licence that is a standardized way to grant copyright permissions to creative or derivative work for non commercial uses even then you need permission if you plan on any commercial investment with the song from buying a different licence for commercial work. The only website I know to grant you free permission of their music for non commercial use as long as you credit them on YT is Incompetech and some others I cannot remember (their statement here). There is only a few websites that will state that permission is granted for full monetization on their FAQ since they cannot write permission for everyone which is why they use CC licence, offer it up for free and have a statement on full monetization rights on their page that you can refer to in case you get a content ID strike. As long as permission is granted for the use of the music on online platforms the actual Royalty Free part never comes into play until you want to use their music commercially. Which as you explain what the term Royalty is pretty well on your post but somehow people are still confused ><
 
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hcetiny

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Thank you for the detailed information on music. I have been using only the free music that YouTube offers, and only the ones that I can monetize.

What I want to use is actually not music, but sound effects, which are mostly 4-5 seconds long. For example, I want to show a footage of a lion and use the sound effect of a lion roar from the BBC library.
 

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Thank you for the detailed information on music. I have been using only the free music that YouTube offers, and only the ones that I can monetize.

What I want to use is actually not music, but sound effects, which are mostly 4-5 seconds long. For example, I want to show a footage of a lion and use the sound effect of a lion roar from the BBC library.
Permission still applies to it whether its music or a sound clip as it's still audio. It's a sound clip that you did not record and therefore does not belong to you so you need permission off the copyright holder. For sound clips they use the same system as music with the licensing so it's the same. Sound clips still have Royalty Free music services so whatever was said applies to it. Not too hard to grasp :p If they do not state that you have permission to monetize it on their website or if they don't use creative commons licence then you will have to email them so they can send you permission for use but that's up to them then. Also can you link me the website you refer to so I can take a look as I dunno whether it's this as there are other websites that are titled BBC. If it is the one that I linked then you have permission to use it as you wish as stated by them ("serve as stimulus for a range of other work. It's a flexible learning resource for you to use as you wish") but it is kinda vague statement for someone who plans to use their clips for YouTube and their FAQ is also vague. I'd email them too to clarify it as there FAQ section does no give enough detail but they do have a contact us section for queries just to be safe. You could argue that their website says that you can use it as you wish so there would be no problem there however the BBC sound library is known for educational uses so just to be safe I'd send them a query.
 
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JayManOurMusicBox

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Yh exactly the term Royalty Free Music get's passed around so much that people think Royalties effects online platforms. There are licences that come with it which you have to buy so you don't pay any royalties but some websites can confuse the term. Royalties don't apply to online platforms like YT they only really come into play when using it commercially but you still need permission to use music online which is where CC licence comes into play. Creative commons licence is the only licence that is regarded close to being free or "all rights reserved" type of licence that is a standardized way to grant copyright permissions to creative or derivative work for non commercial uses even then you need permission if you plan on any commercial investment with the song from buying a different licence for commercial work. The only website I know to grant you free permission of their music for non commercial use as long as you credit them on YT is Incompetech and some others I cannot remember (their statement here). There is only a few websites that will state that permission is granted for full monetization on their FAQ since they cannot write permission for everyone which is why they use CC licence, offer it up for free and have a statement on full monetization rights on their page that you can refer to in case you get a content ID strike. As long as permission is granted for the use of the music on online platforms the actual Royalty Free part never comes into play until you want to use their music commercially. Which as you explain what the term Royalty is pretty well on your post but somehow people are still confused ><
My music uses CC license although not all CC license are equal.
My terms are the same as Incompetech.
Yes you can monetize fully and it is also royalty free.

Exactly. I find it hard to explain to people.
Once upon a time, everyone couldn't understand what Royalty Free Music was and why they needed it.
Today people don't why you don't actually need royalty free music for YouTube but need music you can fully monetize.
 
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hcetiny

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Permission still applies to it whether its music or a sound clip as it's still audio. It's a sound clip that you did not record and therefore does not belong to you so you need permission off the copyright holder. For sound clips they use the same system as music with the licensing so it's the same. Sound clips still have Royalty Free music services so whatever was said applies to it. Not too hard to grasp :p If they do not state that you have permission to monetize it on their website or if they don't use creative commons licence then you will have to email them so they can send you permission for use but that's up to them then. Also can you link me the website you refer to so I can take a look as I dunno whether it's this as there are other websites that are titled BBC. If it is the one that I linked then you have permission to use it as you wish as stated by them ("serve as stimulus for a range of other work. It's a flexible learning resource for you to use as you wish") but it is kinda vague statement for someone who plans to use their clips for YouTube and their FAQ is also vague. I'd email them too to clarify it as there FAQ section does no give enough detail but they do have a contact us section for queries just to be safe. You could argue that their website says that you can use it as you wish so there would be no problem there however the BBC sound library is known for educational uses so just to be safe I'd send them a query.
It is called the BBC complete sound effects library. The licence is apparently at prosoundeffects.com, a big online shop for sound effects. I have contacted them and got some reply, but I'm still not so convinced. So, I will probably drop that and keep using the resources I found online.

I have found this guy (https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ScottEisenhuth) who has prepared an excellent word document with links to free sound resources.
 
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