Im not positive that is completely true... Im being informed from our student animation lead that you can use copyrited music as long as you get permission from the artist.

Here's a quote cited from the rulebook via Joe Ross that I dug up from this old thread:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...matio n+music

quote:

Note: Be aware that certain images and music may be copyrighted and you may not be free to
incorporate them into your Entry without special permission or fees. This includes obvious
things such as clips from popular songs, but could include less obvious things closely aligned to
a particular company or individual. Our judges watch and listen closely for any possible
copyright infringements. If you have any questions about what you can and cannot include,
check with your team corporate sponsor. Also review the language in the “Autodesk Archive
Consent and Release Authorization Form” attached to these Guidelines.
-------------------------------

I knew I remembered reading about this before, I hope this clears it up.

Copyright laws are ALWAYS in effect, whether they are specifically included in the Autodesk documentation or not. Copyright restrictions are part of a Federal statute, and must always be honored. Use of any copyrighted materials, for any purpose, requires the permission of the copyright holder unless the use falls under one of the permitted exemptions, such as for personal use (use in a FIRST competition video is NOT considered "personal use").

-dave

I agree completely with Dave on this one.

okay...but last year there were some killer animations...and we timed them and they were under 30 seconds and were not in the top 50. One thing they all had in common...copyrighted music. Now most of the teams included the reference to the music in the credits...but...the judges didn't see the credits.

I guess it's a gamble if you really want to use copyrighted music

I saw one team that was a finalist that use The Eurythmics Here Comes the Rain Again in their animation. So I don't know how that slipped past FIRST.

Was it a MIDI?

MIDI's are NOT copyrighted

It doesn't matter what content it was presented in.
It was realesed on an album by a major label (which I have).
Therefore it has to be copyrighted. I don't think what form it was presented matters. Substance over style.

From page 23 of the awards PDF:

6.10 Visualization Archive Consent and Release Authorization

"The authorized signatory for the Entrant is over 18 years old and either owns the copyright to the material in these files, or has the right to grant this consent on behalf of the owner, or knows that the material in these files is in the public domain. This consent does not conflict with any others the Entrant has granted or any other rights to the files."

We're going to play it safe & not use copyrighted music.

Thats not correct. They used to be not copyrighted, but now most of them are. Even if it is not exact recording of the performer (as all midi's are) , the tune is still copyrighted.
I would suggest making your own soundtrack/recording to avoid any possible copyright problems

This year I'm definately gonna steer away from copyrighted music... hey maybe my band could make something up for it :)

On the other hand.... well I'm almost positive that "Tank!" from the series Cowboy Bebop is copyrighted...but that would be so awesome to use... do you think they would notice???

Tank! is definetly copyrighted but I agree, that song is awesome! I love Cowboy Bebop :).