Friday, May 6, 2011

Console Classix Videos – Take 1

So, this week has been loaded with video. I don't know how many hours of gameplay I've recorded this week, but it's been a lot. We're working on getting more overviews up and we're also doing a little recording for an idea I got the other day while playing Dragon Warrior for hours and hours.



That actually brings a point to mind. It's been suggested that my overviews need background music. Now, I generally agree with that. My voice isn't unmelodious, lol, but when I am reading an overview and trying to keep the time reasonable I do have a rather quick and to-the-point dialect. So, all in all, background music would be great. Enter the problem: We can't rip music out of the gameplay footage and use it as background music!

Why? I'm glad you asked! As is usually the case when we can't do something we want around here the answer is copyright law. Why can't we translate games from Japanese into English? Copyright Law. Why can't we show a picture of Link playing Console Classix on the home page? Copyright Law. Why can't we sell bootleg DVDs out of the trunk of our car up at the mall? Copyright Law! Wait... strike that last one, I would never want to do that anyway. Now, I want to say that I agree with the limitations of copyright and I'm not really complaining that we can't do those things. (Well, not being able to translate a game is stupid and the law should allow that, but that's another subject.)

Anyways, back to background music. You see, when we record video of a game it's not the game itself. The video is it's own artistic work that is, in fact, copyrighted by Console Classix. Now, we could almost certainly leave the background music playing in the video without any problems as long as we didn't modify it. (Imagine how chopped up it would be in the our Dragon Warrior video...) However, if we pull the music out separately and use it, say as background music for a video we are making, that would be a copyright infringement. You understand? We can show video of a copyrighted game, but we can't just take and play copyrighted music wherever we want.

So, the questions are: Where can we get background music? Should we use background music? Can we find a range of music to work with different games? Should I do the voice overs with an Australian accent?

There is a lot to think about there. In any event, we are going to be working on video for the next few weeks at least. If you guys have ideas or suggestions let us know. We're listening!

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3 comments:

  1. Just have the video with the music that you want, then put the video your making over that, VOILA!
    Man, I should get into law! This is easy!

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  2. http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00760/

    Exact same length as your video!
    I win!

    What are your thoughts on using remixes in your videos?

    BTW I am working on that promo. Like you, I have to record a lot of footage.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Agoaj, I don't think we could do that, lol, but it is a brilliant idea.

    Coolsonh, That remix is AWESOME. However, it is also copyrighted. At lest according to the blurb they put on the YouTube video.

    I need to talk to our attorney about it, but he is crazy expensive. What I really need to do is find a cheaper day-to-day attorney, lol.

    ReplyDelete