I wonder if any server owners have gotten licenses to play music on their servers. I’m unsure how it would work.
In Canada, it would be by purchasing a license through SOCAN, but there are a lot of options, I wouldn’t know if playing music to a large group of people would count as an online concert.
Not looking for a legal answer, just if someone else has ever licensed music for play in their server/in server events and what type of license they purchased.
I don’t believe you are allowed to use any copyrighted or licensed music/assets regardless if you have permission to use them.
You are able to buy licenses to play music online for other people, I’m asking specifically what type of licenses that people have bought, it should be technically ok to do so if you buy the appropriate license - I would imagine that streaming music though the net wouldn’t violate the PLA as we’re not uploading the content?
Term 5.6, “Limitation on Musical Works and Modification of Voiceover Performances” does seem to indicate something along these lines (pretty much saying “do not do anything using any musical works”), likely as this is extremely icky and anything along these lines would potentially open Rockstar up to liability claims.
The language in that section is overly vague and seems to imply that if you’re not getting a license through a “third party” (I guess that would knock out SOCAN, as it would be similar to BMI), you should be okay to license as long as it’s not through a third party.
This seems to imply that you can get licensing rights to play someone else’s music if you’re not working with a licensing organization. So, in that case, buying a license through UMG or other labels would be okay.
You agree that you will not use the Creator Services to create, upload, or distribute any musical work or sample thereof that is subject to license by a third party including, without limitation, any performing rights organization such as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), SESAC or any similar international organization responsible for the licensing of public performance of musical sound recordings and/or compositions.
It seems that if I want to play Justin Bieber’s catalogue on my server, I can do so as long as I get permission through UMG, which owns DefJam/Bieber’s music.
This type of question should be directed towards Rockstar’s Legal Team at rockstargames.com/contact. Alternatively, you may be able to submit a support.cfx.re request but they may end up telling you to seek Rockstar Legal like said above.
Edit; per the /contact page:
For any other legal enquiries, please reach out to:
Copyright@take2games.com
I looked at licensing some music through APRA AMCOS (the Australian organisation that manages music licensing) however due to the legal complexities I opted not to continue. The licensing model was also a contributing factor, as you had to be able to gauge how many times you would play it, if you didn’t want to go for an unlimited play license.
Cfx.re/Rockstar/TakeTwo most likely include a blanket rule claiming that you can’t use copyrighted content (regardless of whether or not it is externally licensed) as it would be far too difficult to manage who has licensed what, if it has expired, etc. Having said this, I don’t think there would be an issue using music that the default GTA:V radio plays as it has already been appropriately licensed by Rockstar/TakeTwo. Notwithstanding all of the above, if you want to play Justin Bieber music we may have bigger problems to deal with :kekw:
Did they give you an approximate price? SOCAN gives the widest ranges and odd numbers, so I couldn’t determine whether it was worth investigating.
Pricing would vary between organisations and such. You’d need to contact SOCAN directly, although, you may find it’s not worth doing (in consideration of the legalities of using copyrighted content).