If you use music or effects in your 'casts, you must have the legal right to do so.

If you make your own music or effects, that's excellent. Ditto if you commission work especially for you.

If you use music or effects belonging to a third party, then you must comply with certain copyright requirements.

Even if music and effects are said to be "free", that doesn't mean there are no conditions. In fact, even "free" is subject to a licence.

Usually, for "free" music and effects, there is an obligation to provide a credit and a link-back to the copyright holder. When you upload your 'cast, there is a box to complete so that your obligation is met.

Note: "royalty free" is not the same as "free." "Royalty-free" usually means that you make a single payment and do not pay recurring royalties.

Some "free" music and effects are free only for personal use. Inclusion in a 'cast published on Financial Crime Broadcasting will, in our opinion, constitute commercial use and is not included in the personal use exemption.

If you use music which is not expressly available on a "free" licence or which is available free only on a personal licence, you commit a copyright offence. If we receive notification from a copyright holder that a 'cast includes material which is used in breach of a licence, we will immediately take down the 'cast. We will inform you and give you the opportunity to re-record it without the offending material. If you do, you may upload the revised version; if you do not, your 'cast will be deleted after 14 days.

There are two exceptions to the general rule.

1) if the material is expressed by the owner of the material, but not simply by a note on a website, to be "in the public domain". This is a technical legal term and does not mean, as some people argue, available to the public.

2) if the material is out of copyright. This is a very complicated issue because copyright law is not standardised across the world despite a global intellectual property coordination body, the World Intellectual Property Organisation. You should read the page About Intellectual Property for a general guide. In principle, copyright can expire but in practical terms it remain in force for many decades or, even, effectively for ever.