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Music for free Steam games

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Johannes Wetterbro

New Member
Hey all,

A year and a half ago I made some music for a game a group of students worked on for their university project.
It was one of my first experiences making music for a game, and we wasn't sure what would become of it.

They're gona release the game on Steam now, but since it's only a small prototype they made quite some time ago they're gona release it for free.

They asked me if i needed any leagal documentation for the music i did and I don't know much about these things. I've simply written a couple of tracks and stingers without registering them anywhere.

So my noobie-question is: is there anything i need to do or ask for? Is there a risk of someone taking my music and make a claim on it? Is there anything else i should think about?
I don't want to put a bunch of work on them, and I would prefere to just let them put it up on Steam right away.
Click to read more...
 
Assuming you don't do anything and they upload the game on STEAM and have you credited as composer somewhere in the game, nobody will be able to steal from you. And, if they do so, you have proof of the authorship.

If you want to be more safe, you can "publish" the music by yourself and register it on BMI/ASCAP (assuming you are in the US).
 
Register it with your PRO just to be on the safe side and keep an the entire correspondence between you and the dev team on record if this project turns out to be lucrative. At the very minimum, you should be credited as a composer.
 
brunocoliveira said:
Assuming you don't do anything and they upload the game on STEAM and have you credited as composer somewhere in the game, nobody will be able to steal from you.
Click to expand...
And even if you're not credited in the game credits, from the legal perspective the music assets are considered as the property of the game company the very second it's published- just like any assets in the game. So technically nobody can take the music because it's in a published and copyrighted game.

A published and copyrighted game/album/tv show etc. is always kind of a "second layer of protection" for your assets. When combined to the actual music credits (whether those are listed publicly or not), you should be able to sleep without worry.
 
Johannes Wetterbro said:
Is there a risk of someone taking my music and make a claim on it?
Click to expand...


I always wanted to ask about that - it seems clear to me that nobody may register your music as their own in that situation, but my understanding is they absolutely can. And when they do, it's a headache to get that reversed, if you ever find out at all.
So my question is, what needs to be done so that no one can register themselves as the creator of your music?
 
MartinH. said:
I always wanted to ask about that - it seems clear to me that nobody may register your music as their own in that situation, but my understanding is they absolutely can. And when they do, it's a headache to get that reversed, if you ever find out at all.
So my question is, what needs to be done so that no one can register themselves as the creator of your music?
Click to expand...

You can register it with a Content ID management system so that unique fingerprint will be tied to you and you alone.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I've told the devs that credits is probably enough. So I will be credited in the game or on the Steam page. As i said in the original post, this is just a simple prototype that they want to put up for fun. I don't think they expect anyone to play it really. So i don't want to make things complicated for them, but it is the first time i'm in this situation and all of this is great info for the future =)
Thank you all!
 
Congratulations on the project! The most important thing in all of this is something you created is being integrated into a live project that will reach a large audience. Having your name out there always helps!
 
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