Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

Re: Non profit copyright usage

Your question is really not very specific. What exactly do you mean by "Can I do this"? What exactly do you mean by non-profit and in what context is the film to be used and distributed?

The simple short answer without more specifics is that with the appropriate licenses and permissions from the copyright owners you can use copyrighted music in a non-profit film. While there are exceptons to using copyrighted works without permission under fair use, these exceptions are very limited and do not come close to covering any and all non-profit copyright usage. The copyright office at www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html has a fact sheet covering fair use. The safest route is to obtain permission before using the copyrighted materials. Note that listing the source in the credits IS NOT the same as asking permission.

After reviewing the copyright office fact sheet, if you still have more specific questions, please feel free to post them.

Regards,

Don Cox