Falcom's Free Music Use Declaration
Japanese developer and publisher Falcom (Ys, Legend of Heroes series) posted a "Falcom Music Free Declaration" on its corporate site, inviting both commercial and non-commercial groups to use songs from its remarkable catalog without any charge or prior permission for television shows, radio programs, commercials, web sites, concert performances, and more, so long as a copyright notice is included.
The company lists specific examples for allowed usage of its music (translated by Japanese gaming news site Andriasang.com):
- Personal videos
- Graduation videos for schools
- BGM for news, documentaries and variety shows -- professional or amateur
- BGM for commercials
- BGM for radio programs
- BGM and jingles for free or paid television
- BGM for websites or blogs
- Live concert performances -- professional or amateur
- Music at public facilities -- schools, parks, ect.
- Music at theaters, arcades, and amusement parks
- Store background music for restaurants, convenience stores, etc.
Unsurprisingly, the company will not allow its songs to be used in other commercial or non-commercial games, nor will it allow them to be posted for sale or free download onto other sites. According to Falcom, it is currently selling over 3,450 pieces of music through various outlets.
Comments
I wonder if this includes Faxanadu for NES. Which was developed by Hudson Soft but used a Falcom license.
That's only only Falcom related game I've played in depth but it has a kickass soundtrack.
It's interesting that the company decided that it could be beneficial for fans to take the game music and have fun with it. Will we we ever see something similar from a company the size of Sega or Nintendo?
Posted by: Bryson Whiteman | June 8, 2009 3:47 PM
This is really cool. Thanks, Falcom!
Posted by: KyleJCrb | June 9, 2009 10:19 AM