# Question on using opera music on a youtube video



## Sparhawke (Nov 28, 2011)

I have been trying to work on a video for a while now and have only just figured out how to put it all together but have come up with a snag, such as the copyright implications of using such music...

The music in question is "Largo al factotum", is it really still copyrighted decades after it was written?

I know this is an odd request/question for a forum of this type but I just don't know where to find an uncopyrighted version of this music which is fairly central to the whole premise of what my video is going to be...to put an analogy on it, it would be like filming an episode of Superman/Smallville with the Benny Hill music because you couldn't get some obscure contract signed lol


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Rossini's music is in the public domain HOWEVER the PERFORMANCE rights of whichever CD you are using belong to the label of the company (i.e. EMI, Sony, DG, etc). To legally use the music on any given CD you must send a request to the record label's copyright department requesting permission. Or if there is a local orchestra that would record it for you they can give you permission to use the recording without going through a record label. Yes its a pain, and many people ignore the procedure BUT its the only way to protect yourself legally.


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## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)

Sometime, though, you _can_ post it on YouTube without permission or having to use a local orchestra. The way it works is that YouTube will post advertisements on _your_ video without having to pay you, and you get to post your video without having to worry about copyright. As a result, both parties are generally satisfied.

It doesn't work _every_ single time, but there's a great possibility that it will.


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