Is it legal to use songs for fair use?

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Q. I reviews for YouTube using Fair Use, in these reviews, I use footage from the film's I review, & in my next review, I'm reviewing a musical, & in the review, I'd like to share a bit of a song (from the film) in the review to let people hear it. I'm not going to show the whole of it, but I must wonder; is it ok to use songs for review? Would Fair Use cover music? Please reply as quickly as possible, because I'd like to know right now.

A. Yes it is legal, but the clip must only show a short segment of the song, not the whole performance. 20-30 seconds should not be a problem, unless the song is only 30 seconds long.

Is it legal to have clips of songs hosted on a public webpage, or is there some sort of fee involved?
Q. I have recently started reviewing music at the request of some friends, and would like to post 5-20 second clips of the songs I am reviewing with an embedded player. I would prefer to choose the segments myself, and would use Audacity to create them. My question is whether or not this is legal. Do I have to pay a licensing fee? Is there some sort of time limit on a clip before it becomes illegal, or is it just against the rules completely?

A. Depends.

Using a small piece of a song, book or other copyrighted material is sometimes allowed for non-profit use, or use by news reporting agencies. If you are using only a few seconds of material you may be able to do that legally. I suggest that you hire an attorney admitted to practice law in the federal courts who is knowledgeable about copyright law and what is sometimes called the "fair use" doctrine.

I hope this helps, good luck to you.

Barclay's Premier League Review Show: name of the song playing during the ending credits?
Q. I am trying to find the name of the song that plays when the show is ending. I don't think it was on there before. They added the song to the review show for the 12/13 season. It has piano in the song.

A. I'm usually asleep by the time they get to that part of the show. Sorry.

If you still have the recording, you can use a song reconising app on your smart phone to identify it.




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