Covering classical pieces

[Labradorain]

Hello.
I'm quite new to music making and haven't experience much in the work; on the other hand, I've played a number of visual novels, one of which is a free otome of a company and has two pieces of J.S. Bach covered as background music; therefore, currently I am wondering: Is it possible (and maybe legal in some way) to do the same for our games? I think the matter is different between a visual novel company and an individual, but this question can't be thrown out of my mind. In addition, I have an idea of having a scene when the character cover a piece of classical music in my visual novel. I also took a look of two topics of which questions are quite similar to this one, but was still unsure and confused... so the thought of making a topic about this greatly persuaded me.
Thank you for reading.

[Tempus]

If something is in the public domain it's okay to use it. However, a recording of a public domain composition isn't necessarily public domain itself. AFAIK anyway.

[fleet]

I am not a lawyer. For legal advice consult an attorney where you live (copyright laws vary by country).

If you play an instrument, you may use your own recording of a J.S. Bach composition in your visual novel. If you have a friend who plays an instrument, and he/she makes a recording of a J.S. Bach composition and agrees to let you use it, you can use it in your visual novel.

A professional musician's recording of J.S. composition is probably covered by copyright law. I recommend not using it.

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ has classical music that you can use in your visual novel without paying royalties, you must give credit per the site's licensing agreement.

[Corvo]

Talking about Bach, there's a good and public domain rendition (on piano) of the Goldberg variations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Goldberg_Variations
I think that there is a similar project for the well tempered clavier.

[Labradorain]

Hello guys, thank you very much for your time and replies!

To:

If something is in the public domain it's okay to use it. However, a recording of a public domain composition isn't necessarily public domain itself. AFAIK anyway.

And:

I am not a lawyer. For legal advice consult an attorney where you live (copyright laws vary by country).

If you play an instrument, you may use your own recording of a J.S. Bach composition in your visual novel. If you have a friend who plays an instrument, and he/she makes a recording of a J.S. Bach composition and agrees to let you use it, you can use it in your visual novel.

A professional musician's recording of J.S. composition is probably covered by copyright law. I recommend not using it.

I see. My intention was to do a recording of a piece for my visual novel, but I wasn't sure if that's legal or not. But now, thanks to your answers, I'm feeling very promissory and confident.

To:

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ has classical music that you can use in your visual novel without paying royalties, you must give credit per the site's licensing agreement.

And:

Talking about Bach, there's a good and public domain rendition (on piano) of the Goldberg variations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Goldberg_Variations
I think that there is a similar project for the well tempered clavier.

I didn't know there is such great resources until now! Thank you for the information, I have just added both sites to my bookmarks.

[Fluffyrobotdog]

A quick way to decide whether or not you should use something.

works create before 1/1/1923 are protected for 75 years; therefore, all things created before 1923 are public domain.

Anything registered before 1/1/1978 is secured for 95 years, and anything created after 1/1/1978 is for the life of the longest surviving author plus 70 years.

So, if you can find a classical recording made before 1/1/1923 you can use it with no problems.

However for a piece that is still under copyright you will need to obtain a Synchronization License(from the music copyright owner), Dubbing Rights(from the recording company) and Artistic Permission(from any performers)

For this, I would suggest a lawyer.

Otherwise, creating the recording yourself and using a performer you know would simplify the process, because that would only require a Synchronization License(which is expired for Mr. J. S. Bach)

I hope that makes everything clear.

Good luck!

I will cite my video production Professor Keith Jones on that as well heh.