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[JustPhillip]

I've got my answers. Got some royalty free music and I am crediting everyone who made the rf music.

 

[Hudell]

You can't use someone else's work without authorization, even if it were just one file.
There's plenty of music on the rpg maker RTP and there's more available for free on the internet,.

 

[Milennin]

If you just keep the game for just yourself, or a group of friends, it should be fine. If you want to publish it on the internet, using music from other, commercial games isn't a good idea...

 

[RCXDan]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: I would make the effort to find free music or at best hire a composer if you can handle the cost.

Using assets you don't own for a publically accessible game is a serious no-no even if it's free, so you're much better off replacing everything with free assets.

 

[MushroomCake28]

You legally can't. If you get caught (which is unlikely, but it still does not make it legal) you could get hit with a fine.

If you just keep the game for just yourself, or a group of friends, it should be fine.

There's a difference between legal and illegal but not getting caught.

 

[Shaz]

Whether your game is free or commercial has absolutely no relevance. ALL music (and art) is copyright to their creators, and using it without permission is not allowed. The fact that you've used rips from Nintendo, Undertale, etc will only ensure that the moment they get wind of it, it'll be taken down, as these bigger companies are very aggressive in protecting their assets.

I suggest you go through and replace it all, and better yet, with your next game, look for appropriate resources from the very start.

 

[gtswaifuism]

Search royalty-free music on youtube or search engines, they have a lot covering almost every genre.

 

[bgillisp]

Its against copywrite law even if the game is non-commercial. Doesn't matter if you have seen other games do it, it just means they haven't been caught yet OR they got permission first.

 

[AdeptusUK]

Zapsplat might be a good place to start, they have a whole load of 8-bit type music that is royalty free and allows commercial use (if Zapsplat is credited).

 

[zzmmorgan]

Keep an eye on Humble Bundle also as they have bundles off and on with various assets you can use in games including music for a very nice price. I currently have about 300 songs I can use in games thanks to that as well as quite a few sprites and battlers and such. I think I have like 5 packs of Tyler Warren's RPG Battlers along with quite a bit of other stuff. I think I spent less than $50 on total on the Humble Bundles so it was a great deal considering how much I got. Most of the music I got on those Humble Bundles came from either https://joelsteudler.itch.io/ or https://jdbartist.itch.io/ and there's some really neat stuff from both of them. https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/ is another option for some reasonably priced music and he has some creative commons stuff available for free WITH attribution.
As mentioned before https://www.zapsplat.com/ is an option for music AND sound effects. I've used some sound effects from there with appropriate attribution.

 

[KakonComp]

To add to this, it's much better to find music not intimately tied to another game, since people will think of the game the music's from other than the game you're releasing.

 

[Milennin]

You legally can't. If you get caught (which is unlikely, but it still does not make it legal) you could get hit with a fine.

There's a difference between legal and illegal but not getting caught.

I'm very well aware of that, and you're not going to see any consequences if you don't widely distribute that game. There's a reason Pokémon fan games can thrive on the internet just fine, it's only once they gain a large following that they get taken down. Even if it's illegal, no company is going to bother going after you if your game has like 5 people playing it.

 

[MerlinCross]

I'm very well aware of that, and you're not going to see any consequences if you don't widely distribute that game. There's a reason Pokémon fan games can thrive on the internet just fine, it's only once they gain a large following that they get taken down. Even if it's illegal, no company is going to bother going after you if your game has like 5 people playing it.

Kinda this? but it's also better to just avoid that entirely.

Companies HAVE to do something when it's brought to their attention(or gets notable enough) as if they don't, others could use it as "Well you didn't protect your copyright from this person, why are you defending it now?"

That said the net is littered with RPG maker, unity, flash, and other engines that make use of other game assets. I've seen Mario and Wario games, Pokemon RPGs, a Metriod flash title, and slews of knock offs and rip offs. Legally Nintendo and other companies are within their right to take a hammer to these games, but they don't until they get noticeable or something internally sets them up to take it down. I've seen some games or even parts of games get taken down or removed because the IP holder reached out and asked about it before taking the legal work to do it.

So you can use Assets from other games but to avoid at best your game taken down and at worse, legal issue, it's probably better to just keep to Original work or assets made and cleared to be used in such a way.

 

[MushroomCake28]

The question is "can I do X" though, and the right answer is no. Otherwise it's like saying that you can commit a crime because you won't get caught. Of course, it's not on the same scale, but still.

OP asked if they can, the answer is "legally no". What OP does after getting the answer is OP's decision.

 

[MerlinCross]

The question is "can I do X" though, and the right answer is no. Otherwise it's like saying that you can commit a crime because you won't get caught. Of course, it's not proportional, but still.

OP asked if they can, the answer is "legally no". What OP does after getting the answer is OP's decision.

Which is why I suggest just skipping the entire idea of "trying to get away with it" and just replacing anything that is copyrighted. Even using RPG maker default is better as you can't legally get sued for it(unless you put them in another engine as I understand it?).

Besides let's say one does put an Undertale track in and Toby Fox doesn't do a thing. People well figure that out and go "Wait.... this is Toby's" and start looking over the rest of the game for other assets.

Using Standard assets won't win you many players/views. Using Copyrighted Assets will but quite possibly for all the wrong reasons and cause problems down the line.

Best thing to do is not do it in the first place.

 

[Triangle45]

Even if it's free you shouldn't do that man...