I am making a video for my final presentation for speech class. I want to have I Can’t Smile Without You by Barry Manilow playing over the video (it looks and sounds really cool). But, I don’t want to risk getting in trouble by using the song.
I have been told in the past that songs can be used for educational purposes but I don’t know if a speech counts since there’s no educational value to the song; it’s just the perfect backer to the video.
So, can I do this without breaking any laws?
I’m not a lawyer.
The real world answer is that it’s extremely unlikely you’ll get into trouble about this. Since it’s apparently not to be broadcast, someone in your class would have to report you for using the song, and even if they did so it’s likely the authorities wouldn’t care. You are not selling a product using it, so there are no profits to sue you for, and as a student you probably don’t have any assets worth taking. If you’re a rich trust fund baby, though…
Technically you may be in violation of copyright law. You are supposed to pay a fee for the use of a piece of music. There are some exceptions, like doing a news story about the song, but using it as your soundtrack I don’t think would fall among those exceptions. The copyright holder can waive the fee, so you could also choose to try getting permission.
What I suggest you do is ask your teacher in front of the class, and turn this question into a group learning experience, since someone else in your class will have the very same question.
This is why I shouldn’t ask questions here when I’m exhausted. I’ve already asked my professor a bunch of questions about my presentation but for some reason, I didn’t even think of asking him this. :smack:
My presentation is due on Tuesday and I wont be seeing him before then so I sent him the question on facebook.
Thanks Boyo Jim, for the answer.
If a mod wants to close this for being a dumb question, feel free. 
Yeah - technically illegal but it really only matters whether your professor is a stickler about copyright infringement or not. It’s unlikely that Barry Manilow’s lawyers will be coming after you over it.
Google “royalty free music”. You will find summaries of the law, and sources of music that don’t require a use fee.
Once again, thanks Boyo Jim and everyone else. I kept googling and googling last night but I couldn’t find royalty free music. It was probably because I had no clue what term I was supposed to be searching under. Once I knew what too look for, I looked for “royalty free music” and then looked under “FREE royalty free music” and found a perfect waltz played by the USAF band. I’ve already removed Barry and am currently uploading the new version to youtube.
My professor didn’t tell me I could use Barry, he asked what I was using it for. To me, that sounds like he’d let me but only if it was vital to the speech - which it’s not. I did tell him why I wanted it (the video is creepy without sound but the sound that I recorded is a bunch of people talking and laughing and making gooey noises at their dogs), but also told him I found some legal music.