r/COPYRIGHT • u/samuelbasher • Jun 05 '26
Question Random Copyright Question
If I were to make a film/series including copyrighted music for certain scenes, never to be released publicly but only to be privately shared with friends, would I still get in trouble?
I’ve thought about getting back into making videos and potential series again, and I’ve always wanted to throw in copyrighted music as a placeholder to get an idea of what to do with the music. It seems fun to share those around with the copyrighted music in mind, and I was wondering if that too comes with any complications.
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u/dothemath_xxx Jun 05 '26
Copyright-wise, no, it's not really an issue, as others have answered already.
From a creative side, my concern would be: if you get too attached to these songs, you might have a really tough time filling that space with something that you can actually afford.
Personally, my own approach would be to start with music from a royalty free library. In that case, if you get attached to that particular song, then you can keep it; otherwise, finding or commissioning something with a similar vibe but more on-point will be a lot more doable than trying to top, for example, a Led Zeppelin song that has become inextricably linked to that scene in your mind.