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Subject: Question !!
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If I use all Halo music in a video about Halo is it considered copyright ?

  • 07.13.2011 11:26 AM PDT

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I've been flagged a few times by Marty for using his soundtracks. It seems to happen if you are just playing the song with no other noises to overlay it. If you have game sound going on mixing with the music it doesn't tend to flag.

For instance, I used a halo song in my credits, and since it was just the music, that song got flagged, but none of the songs I used for the other half hour of the movie.

  • 07.13.2011 12:01 PM PDT

Impossible isn't a fact its an opinion

Halo music for me normaly doesnt get flagged but if it does it normally just tells me that it has been noticed and now they will put more notifactaions/ ads on the page.. its rare my videos music gets taken off unless its like linkin park or some other really really well know band/singer....

  • 07.13.2011 12:05 PM PDT
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Posted by: Blackbird56695
Halo music for me normaly doesnt get flagged but if it does it normally just tells me that it has been noticed and now they will put more notifactaions/ ads on the page.. its rare my videos music gets taken off unless its like linkin park or some other really really well know band/singer....

Can I have Halo music and still be a youtube partner ?
Could I have, let's say 'Two steps from Hell', and be a partner ?

What is considered copyright on youtube and how do you know what is or isn't?

  • 07.13.2011 2:23 PM PDT

How I got mine: Frank Helsing


Posted by: Kaiba034

Posted by: Blackbird56695
Halo music for me normaly doesnt get flagged but if it does it normally just tells me that it has been noticed and now they will put more notifactaions/ ads on the page.. its rare my videos music gets taken off unless its like linkin park or some other really really well know band/singer....

Can I have Halo music and still be a youtube partner ?
Could I have, let's say 'Two steps from Hell', and be a partner ?

What is considered copyright on youtube and how do you know what is or isn't?


To be a Youtube Partner you need to have only have original content. If you didn't make everything in the video (music included) it's not considered original. You can however make minor changes to the music to get around the copyright or use royalty-free stock sound fx and music also.

When someone makes something like a song or a graphic, it automatically becomes copyrighted. If it's a graphic, you will probably see a little symbol somewhere close to it, usually a (C), (R), or (TM). Just because something isn't registered doesn't mean it isn't copyrighted.

  • 07.13.2011 6:00 PM PDT


Posted by: x Awal x

Posted by: Kaiba034

Posted by: Blackbird56695
Halo music for me normaly doesnt get flagged but if it does it normally just tells me that it has been noticed and now they will put more notifactaions/ ads on the page.. its rare my videos music gets taken off unless its like linkin park or some other really really well know band/singer....

Can I have Halo music and still be a youtube partner ?
Could I have, let's say 'Two steps from Hell', and be a partner ?

What is considered copyright on youtube and how do you know what is or isn't?


To be a Youtube Partner you need to have only have original content. If you didn't make everything in the video (music included) it's not considered original. You can however make minor changes to the music to get around the copyright or use royalty-free stock sound fx and music also.

When someone makes something like a song or a graphic, it automatically becomes copyrighted. If it's a graphic, you will probably see a little symbol somewhere close to it, usually a (C), (R), or (TM). Just because something isn't registered doesn't mean it isn't copyrighted.

How would I change the song ?
And I though Halo music is free to use ?

I seen it in digitalph33r's video about making a machinima.
Would lowering the pitch or adding slight delay work ?

  • 07.14.2011 1:35 AM PDT

How I got mine: Frank Helsing

You would need to use an audio editing program like GarageBand, Audacity, Acid, Pro Tools, etc... and actually change the music. I'm not sure if simply adding an effect like delay will count enough for Youtube.

I think you can use the Halo music if you include the "Created under Microsoft's Game Content Usage Rules..." tidbit however, I'm sure that you can use Halo's music that way but only for a regular non-partner channel. To get a partnership you need original content, or obtain the licenses to use copyrighted material. You can always try using royalty-free stock music instead of Halo music. I know this website here offers free royalty-free music downloads. All the music was created by the site owner so he owns the copyrights to them and if he wants to give them away for free that's his call.

If you really wanted to use Halo music on Youtube and still be able to get a Youtube Partnership, I would recommend buying a MIDI keyboard, learning how to play the songs you want, and then making slight changes to the melodies.

My friend and I suffered from this about 2 years ago. We made a little series on Youtube called "Teammates of Genius", a parody of the "Real Men of Genius" commercials. We used an instrumental version of the original song and it worked fine until we got a partnership with Machinima. Since the song was copyrighted and not original we couldn't use it in our new videos. So I decided to make my own version of the song, it had to be close enough to the original that people would recognize it but different enough so that Machinima would let us use it.

Here is the original unedited Real Men of Genius song
Real Men of Genius
and here is my version which Machinima said was okay to use.
Teammates of Genuis

If you listen closely you can hear the differences, the bass melody is different, the piano is different, and instead of a choir singing in the background, I used strings. I tried to keep the drums identical though to help people recognize the rhythm. The notes are pretty much the same as the Real Men of Genius song, I just played them in different order.

I used GarageBand and a MIDI keyboard to recreate the song. Once you learn how to play each of the individual parts, you can rearrange them any way you want. Hope that helps.

  • 07.14.2011 9:17 AM PDT