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PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS VERY OUTDATED

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The audio submission page has a box with a brief rule explanation.

- You are making the legal claim that it is your own original work.
- Loops you made from existing copyrighted songs are not your own original work.
- If your submission is not your own original work, you will be placed on a rejection list and held responsible for any repercussions.
- You will remain the owner and credited author of the submission.

Your own original work

It's a rather vague term. I'll try to explain it to make that more clear.
The song you're uploading should be your work. Clearly that means you can not upload a song by some band you like, I hope you realize that.

If your friend (or your friend's band for that matter) made a song, but he doesn't have a Newgrounds account, it's not your job to upload it for him/them. Let him make his own account for that. Perhaps you want to help out people by giving them some exposure on Newgrounds. Don't do it, as it only causes trouble. Only YOUR work. If you are in a band, you can upload the music you made with your band. Be sure to mention that it's your band, and perhaps include what part you played.

Loops you made from existing copyrighted songs are not your own original work

Basically, you are not allowed to use any copyrighted samples in your music. This means you can not use copyrighted vocals from a song (also known as a Capella's). You're not allowed to use any bit of a commercial song. There is no length limit for this, keep it to nothing. Sure you found plenty of songs on the Audio portal that DO use copyrighted samples... they're all breaking these rules. This does not allow you to do the same thing. Gradually, all the submissions breaking the rules will be deleted anyway.

Midi-rips are not your own original work

A midi file (.mid or .midi) is a file consisting of raw note, velocity and instrument information. You can load it in almost any DAW, and simply assign instruments to the note tracks you see. This way you use the composition that was in the midi file and you add your personal touch to it by giving it your own instrumentation.

Although this may be fun to do, it is not allowed to be uploaded on Newgrounds. Making a midi-rip is done without much effort of yourself, as the actual song has been written for you. Therefore, it is the work of the person who composed the midi file, and not yours. Refrain from uploading these things.

If you want to cover a song, Do your very best to get the notes by ear, and write your own composition around that, so you only use the original melody (or you can even alter that) to make a new, original composition out of it.

Using loops in songs

This has always been a bit of a vague rule. Certain programs allow you to create a song out of loops from a library you can drag together. Some people around here call that Duplo music, as you're technically just playing with blocks. A duplo song is not your own original work. It consists of premade loops, and are thus not made by you. You only chose the order in which they are being played. - Do not upload song like that. Examples of programs in which you can make songs like this include Apple's Garageband and the older versions of Magix music maker.

You are, however, allowed to use a limited amount in your song. This is where common sense comes in. There's no problem with using a loop to thicken up the mix a bit. Sometimes using a loop can just give that extra touch your song needs. Just be sure the majority of the product is not loops.
I can advise you not to use loops for melodies or harmonic backings. These will be instantly recognizable, and at Newgrounds, we obviously support originality. Again, use your common sense.
The Audio moderators will judge whether or not it's your own original work, using their common sense.

SPAM

SPAM submissions are obviously frowned upon. If your submission consists of a bunch of random sounds, or is actually ear-hurting, you will be banned. Randomly clicking around in a DAW and submitting the result of that is considered SPAM. Common sense is key again. I'm sure you know whether or not you put effort in making your submission.

I hope this article helped clarify the rules for submitting for you. You can ask questions by commenting.

Additional links

[1] Awaiting Audio Approval
Information about the approval process and a brief explanation of the rules.

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