The Word Nerds Discussion :: View topic - Fair Use for Songs on Podcasts -- What are the RULES?

sarapomegranate

Dear Nerds (and others on the forum):

I have been a fan of your podcast for about a year. As a fellow educator, I am deeply impressed with your commitment to the program even though I'm sure your teaching lives are hectic.

I am currently engaged in podcasting with my students. They are working in small groups to script and record podcasts about Advanced Placement literature. I anticipate that these podcasts will be a great resource for students who are about to take AP courses next year.

Of course students want to include some of their favorite songs on the podcasts, and here I'm stumped. I noticed that you also include songs on your podcast. Where can I go to learn EXACTLY what is fair usage and understand the rules about this kind of thing. Do you have a resource or can you offer any advice?

Thanks.

Dave

This is a hard one for beginning podcasters to understand, but it is very important.

Unless a song (and its performance) have been released as "podsafe" (i.e., explicitly available for podcast and/or internet distribution) you should not publish it on a podcast. You do not want to get sued for using the property of record companies.

I have been doing a student podcast with my German students for the past three years. The Deutsch 4 Podcast does not include any music that isn't podsafe. That is to say, students know that if they include parts of their favorite licensed songs (usually hit songs), I will accept and grade their work, but I cannot publish it online.

The record industry has still, after almost four years, not figured out what to do with podcasts, and so they have developed no licensing scheme for playing the music.

The good news is that there are many sites that allow independent artists to publish their own podsafe music. Try the Podsafe Music Network or GarageBand.com for a couple of places to start. There are also many others.