Freesound Forums

hi!
I am making a simple app and I want to use couple of sounds like those:
https://freesound.org/people/timgormly/sounds/162810/
https://freesound.org/people/UncleSigmund/sounds/30165/
The recordings are licensed as CC0, but what about the melodies that are being played on these recordings? They may be licensed in some way. Is this a real thing, or am I just overreacting?

This is a good question.

I'm not a lawyer but I can give my educated opinion on the subject.

Realistically you'll probably be fine using these types of recordings, but It depends how and what tune is being played. "The Mulberry bush" is a nursery rhyme so it's ok to use.

"My Way" by Frank Sinatra is slightly more tricky. Obviously the original song that these melodies originate from have a mechanical copyright that is currently owned by various record and publishing companies, which prohibits redistribution and monetisation of these recordings without a syncing license, however these specifically are copies of the melody played in an entirely different context.

I think you'll be fine since mechanical copyrights do not apply, however performance rights may still be valid for this particular medium "My Way". To be on the safe side, I would use with caution and avoid doing any commercial projects with music box tunes that are playing any recorded music from 1950 onwards (70 year cutoff for USA music copyrights).

I hope this provided some insight to you

Yes, this answered my question! Thank you!

czater wrote:
Yes, this answered my question! Thank you!

No problem, have fun!