I once used a commercial music for my example level, but I got a warning message, saying I had to change to another one.

Does this only imply radio and MTV musics, or does it also imply taking musics from other games?

If possible, I would like to insert a SimCity Societies music in my level.

I know I shouldn't bump topics, but ... I'm still waiting for an answer.

I don't know for sure, the rules on J2O just prohibit the use of copyrighted material as a whole including 'abandonware' and such.

Most music from other games are from either shareware or freeware games, which is totally fine. But thinking about that, Jazz1 music from non-shareware levels has been included a lot and it's never been a problem.

So I guess it's alright to include music from other games. At least their companies are not as pricky about it as the average music industry richies.

But you'd have to contact Stijn or Cooba for a more definite answer.

Originally Posted by Slaz

I don't know for sure, the rules on J2O just prohibit the use of copyrighted material as a whole including 'abandonware' and such.

Essentially all music that was created in civilized countries in this or previous century is copyrighted so that couldn't really be valid.

What music you can use in your level is fairly intuitive - all that J2O wants is that the actions you take be legal. There are three thresholds worth taking into account:

• Uploading a level with the "Music file" field set to a certain value: you can do this with any file you want and it will be legal, because this doesn't yet mean providing the file. If you don't provide the actual file for download though, this is obviously inconvenient and most people won't bother obtaining the music.
• Uploading a level and linking to a music file download on an external site: you can do this if said external site has sufficient rights to spread the music file, e.g. is an official distributor's or the author's page. This is the case with many less known artists, some of whom make all their works available for free download and others only make a few tracks free as a sort of a "demo".
• Uploading a level packed together with the music file: you can only do this if you, personally, have the rights to spread the music file. Because the majority of us are neither musicians nor music distributors, this option is generally limited to products licensed with a free license. One of the most widely used free licenses in music is the Creative Commons license, which, regardless of its exact sub-type, gives users sufficient rights to use the music in a level they upload to J2O as long as you give credits to necessary people in a way specified in the license.

For the record, all of this applies to all file extensions of music and not only the non-module ones such as MP3 and OGG. However, free license module music is generally much easier to find. For example, Mod Archive distributes most music under the Mod Archive Distribution license, which is also sufficient to redistribute the music zipped together with your level.

Basically, it's okay to upload music that was released for free elsewhere (by the author). Legality aside, that's pretty much how it's been done up till now.

If the music was released under a license that forbids redistribution, you should really choose another track to accompany your level. But it's pretty impractical for us to check all uploaded music's license so there's probably quite a few tracks on J2O that violate that rule.

Rules of thumb:

• Mods, like those that you can find on modarchive: yes
• Music that has been released for free and does not forbid you from (re-)using it: yes
• Game music from old games (like the stuff you can find on mirsoft.info): technically probably not allowed, but no one cares
• Game music from recent games (say post-2000), or commercial music (Madonna): no

It is always preferable to upload your level's music to J2O together with the level. External links break after some time more often than not, and we now allow large zip files to be uploaded.

So you have a choice: either use that one track that really fits best but is a song by Vanilla Ice so you can't really use it, and no one can hear your level's music now (if you just don't include it) or in a few month's time (when the external download link goes dead). Or just get a good track from modarchive or somewhere else and everyone wins.

One exception to the commerical music thing I like to point out is that some artists(Such as Jonathan Coulton) release their music under a license that allows you to use it(As long as you credit them and don't make money from it), but they still sell their music and encourage people to buy songs or albums they like to support the artist in question.

I know this is almost never the case, but it's worth knowing.