Nintendo and the Pokémon Company has made an interesting decision: They’ve released almost all of the music from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl online, for free. And even more, they allow it to be used for non commercial purposes.
Recently, The Pokémon Company launched something called the Pokémon DP Sound Library. This website contains all of the music from the 4th generation of Pokémon games. There, users can listen to songs, create playlists, and even download the audio files. While that’s pretty cool as is, what sets it apart further is the personal use guide.
Anyone can download and use the audio on the site for “personal video and music creation.” Granted, there’s a fair sized list of rules that they need to follow. But as long as they do that, they’re free to do as they please. Fortunately, they do a pretty good job of making it clear what is and is not allowed.
Firstly, you must agree to their Terms of Use. That’s fairly common, as far as licensing type things go. They also stipulate that the audio has to be acquired specifically from that website, and not other websites.
What you Can Do
- Post videos or audio created using the Audio social media.
- Release a video that uses the Audio as background music on social media.
- Release a video of your performance of the Audio on social media.
- Release a video that uses the Audio as BGM for dance, drama or scene on social media.
- Release a musical work that uses the Audio on social media.
- Use of the Audio as BGM for your own website.
- Use the Audio as BGM at events or performances, like non-commercial events, dances, plays, etc.
- Perform the music at non-commercial recitals or competitions.
- Perform as entrance background music for sports games.
- Use of performances by wedding party members or attendees in wedding ceremonies.
- Perform at non-revenue-generating concerts.
What You CANNOT Do
- Commercial uses
- Advertising or promotion or specific products.
- Broadcast on TV or radio programs.
- Redistribute the audio elsewhere without being used in other work.
- Use it in games, apps, software, and programs.
- Use it to impersonate official Pokémon Company statements.
- Post the content to pay-to-view platforms.
- Use in events where the organizer makes a profit.
- Use in a way that can harm The Pokémon Company’s reputation.
- Use it to make ideological, religious, or political claims.
- Use it in combination with other brands in an unlicensed way.
- Use it in a way that infringes on the right of The Pokémon Company.
- Use it in a way that promotes lawbreaking or dissuading public policy.
While that sounds like a lot, this is fairly standard for a lot of music licensing deals, especially when its being provided for free. All in all, we’re pretty happy to see this happen. We imagine that most folks will simply use it to add official Pokémon music to their personal music library. Even so, we look forward to seeing what the more creative-minded people in the community can do with these resources.