General Definitions

What is Copyright?

A simple definition of Copyright is the “right to copy, publish or perform”. It is a way of expressing the legal exclusive right of ownership.

What does Royalty Free mean?

Bird Sounds can be sold as royalty free (or buyout) products and their use is governed by the license agreement. When you buy Royalty Free music, you buy the rights to synchronize the sounds with your productions. While you own the physical CDs that make up the library and you are allowed to synchronize them for use in your productions – the sounds and their copyright will always belong to the copyright holder of the product.

What does Public Domain mean?

From the time a piece of music is created, it is protected by Copyright. The international laws governing copyright are the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention. Under the Berne Convention, copyright extends for the life of the composer plus a minimum of 50 years following his or her death.
Most of the world’s industrial countries have signed the Berne Convention and comply with it – although all countries have their own copyright laws which may extend the copyright period for an additional number of years. Many countries have extended this copyright term to a period of 70 years following the death of the composer. Once a piece of music has existed beyond the copyright protection of a country, that piece of music is considered to be in the Public Domain in that country. If you are intending to use a piece of music or sound that is in the Public Domain, make sure that you check the Copyright Laws in all countries where the production will be used to make sure that your use conforms to the laws of those countries.

What are Performing Rights?

The composer and publisher of a piece of music generally reserve the right to receive compensation any time their music is performed in public, hence the term Performing Rights. Around the world, performance rights societies (like ASCAP and BMI in the United States or SOCAN in Canada), collect public performance revenue from radio and TV stations and networks, movie theatres and other sources. This public performance revenue is divided among the composers and publishers based on “reported use”, which is usually submitted via a Cue Sheet.

What is meant by CD Audio or Red Book Audio format?

Red Book Audio refers to the technical standards that have been set by the audio industry for the physical production of CDs, such as the overall dimension of the CD, the size of the CD hole and how

the audio is burned on to the CD. This CD Audio format is not the same as the format of wav or MP3 files. CD Audio is designed for listening on a CD Player. If you have a multimedia program installed on your computer that will play standard audio CDs, you will be able to use your CD ROM drive to play back and listen to the sound effects or music on the CD.

Use of Products

Can I use bird/wildlife sounds on my Web site?

Yes, within the following limits… you can synchronize sound effects for playback only on your Web site, so that button rollovers “chirps” or a bird sings in the “wind”. This type of use is absolutely legal. But you are not allowed to distribute sound effects in any way – whether you intend to give, trade, loan or sell them. You are not permitted to present the sound effects in any way that would allow access to the sound effects or sounds as downloadable audio.

Can I usethe bird/wildlife sounds in my music?

Yes you can. This qualifies as synchronizing our sounds with other audio content.

I am making a video game for release in retail stores. Can I use your bird/wildlife sound effects in it?
Yes you can.

Do I have to pay you more if I include the bird/wildlife sounds in a production that will be broadcast on radio or TV?

Bird/wildlife Sounds are sold as royalty free products. This means that you do not need to pay any additional money if a production is going to be broadcast or performed publicly.

Can the bird/wildlife sounds be used for live theatre productions?

Yes. The Bird/wildlife sounds can be incorporated into a live theatre production, either through the creation of a cued tape or CD created especially for the production, or through use of a direct cue from the original library CD.