Creative Commons vs copyright free music

Creative Commons vs copyright free music matters because the badges get pasted onto videos that were never under those terms. Arctaholic tracks are not Creative Commons. Do not add a CC icon to them.

What Creative Commons usually allows

A CC BY license, for example, requires credit and often allows adaptations, including commercial ones, under the terms on the CC deed. Some CC licenses ban commercial use (NonCommercial) or ban remixes (NoDerivatives). The deed is the license. A song labeled CC in a description is not CC unless the owner actually used that deed.

What this catalog allows instead

The license is a custom grant. Creator videos, streams, and podcasts, including monetized ones. Credit is optional, which is more permissive than CC BY on that one point. Remixes, samples, and new vocals are not allowed, which is stricter than CC BY. Re-uploads of the song alone are not allowed.

If you need a remixable beat, you need a license that says so. This one does not. See can I remix. The money version of the vocabulary is royalty free vs copyright free.

Creative Commons vs copyright free music, and why the badge does not belong

Creative Commons vs copyright free music matters because badges get pasted onto videos that were never under those terms. Arctaholic tracks are not Creative Commons. Do not add a CC icon to them, and do not tell a client they are CC BY.

A CC BY license usually requires credit and often allows adaptations, including commercial ones, under that deed. Some CC licenses ban commercial use. Some ban remixes. The deed is the license. A song labeled CC in a description is not CC unless the owner used that deed. These songs did not.

This catalog is a custom grant. Creator videos, streams, and podcasts, including monetized ones, are in. Credit is optional, which is more permissive than CC BY on that one point. Remixes and samples are not allowed, which is stricter than CC BY. Re-uploads of the song alone are not allowed. The license is the text. The phrase “copyright free” is not a CC term.

You cannot re-license a recording you do not own. Putting CC in your description does not dual-license the master. If you need a remixable beat, you need an owner who offers that. The remix guide says this owner does not.

The Copyright Office fair use FAQ is a third thing again: not CC, not this license, and not a seconds rule.

Search your descriptions for the letters CC before you publish a batch. If you pasted a Creative Commons line out of habit, take it off an Arctaholic track. Replace it with nothing, or with the optional credit that names the song and the track link. Do not leave both. A viewer who follows a CC badge expects a deed that allows things this license does not allow, including many remixes. You would be advertising a permission you cannot give. The license URL is the correction if someone asks. The badge is the mistake. Other songs in the same video can be CC if their owners said so. Do not let their badge cover this recording.

Questions

Can I dual-license a download as CC to be safe?

No. You cannot re-license a recording you do not own.

Is “copyright free” a Creative Commons term?

No. It is a search phrase. The legal text is the license page, not the phrase.