Use m4p file in QT movie?

Question

Level 3

520 points

Use m4p file in QT movie?

I recently purchased several tunes from the iTunes store specifically to use as background music in a QT movie.

Now I find that QT will not import them because they are in m4p "protected" format, and that it is impossible (and possibly illegal) to convert these files to mp3 format for importing to QT.

Is there any way to use these tunes as a QT sound track?
This is my first experience with iTunes store and I'm disappointed, to say the least. Doesn't some sort of "fair use" apply here?

This policy seems to encourage illegal downloading from P2P sources, rather than discourage it. At least you get your music in a usable mp3 format (don't ask me how I know that).

Posted on Aug 7, 2005 4:33 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Aug 7, 2005 5:29 PM in response to fflynn

Which version of QuickTime do you have?

Using QuickTime Pro 7 I've just opened an m4p file (File > Open).

I've also Selected All, Copied and added to another QuickTime movie.

Reply

Answer 2

fflynn Author

Level 3

520 points

Aug 7, 2005 6:00 PM in response to Darren S-Pullman

Hi Darren,

Okay, I've got QT 6 (since I'm running OS10.2).
Guess that's just another incentive to upgrade to Panther.
Thanks.

Reply

Answer 3

Aug 8, 2005 6:22 AM in response to fflynn

Purchased music (.m4p files) can be used in a QT movie or an iPhoto slide show or iMovie Project.
What is not allowed is "sharing" this final project with any other "unauthorized" machine.
Post a project using .m4p music to the Web or sending it in email will require the recipient (or the Web viewer) to "authorize" the music by purchasing it at the iTMS.
You agreed to those terms when you purchased the music.

Reply

Answer 4

fflynn Author

Level 3

520 points

Aug 8, 2005 2:04 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Hi Kirk,

This topic has been kicked around on many forums (do a Google search on "convert m4p to mps" for some examples. The discussions seem to be divide into two camps: Your opinion (which I share - in principle - "rule of law" and all that), and a more cynical camp which sees the iTunes store as mainly a way to sell more iPods (which is probably true), so why not work around it, they say.

For Windozers there are all sorts of hacks out there for converting m4p to mps, and a few for Mac users too. So the way Apple has it set up is essentially innefective if you're willing to bend the rules. The situation is much the same as it is for "ripping" DVD content.

Don't know if you're old enough to remember the days when everyone had a home stereo with a casette recorder and simply recorded whatever music they wanted from FM radio. DJs even put out play lists giving the time of day you could expect to hear certain songs. This is still a viable option and you don't hear the music publishers ranting about it. The debate continues and I foresee the day when no more attention is paid to music sharing than is paid to VCR tape copying.

Anyway, for those of us who have QT6, which will not import m4p tunes, the simple solution is this (learned on one of the Googled forums): Put all the purchased m4p's into a playlist and burn its contents to a CD. Select the CD in iTunes and its contents will be copied to your play list as mp3's. Simpple, efficient, possibly even legal (?).

Reply

Answer 5

Aug 8, 2005 2:45 PM in response to fflynn

http://www.usg.edu/legal/copyright/
A great "read" if any has the time.
I've never run into the trouble with .m4p files because I am the last person on the planet that still hasn't downloaded a file from the ITMS.
I did purchase LP's in the sixties. I think they got melted on a radiator. Those two statements should help you guess my age.
The purpose of these discussions pages (so generously run and maintained by Apple) is to help viewers solve problems. You've found a workaround. Clumsy (and you didn't have to "burn" a CD to do it) as it was.
I use copyrighted material in many of my Web movies. I make every attempt to identify the original holders and "give credit" (inside the annotations of my "movies" and in the page) whenever I use it. I've also been granted "permission" for some files.
Apple Computer uses FairPlay. Some of the fine print can be found here:
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/legal/policies.html
One of the key phrases from the document explain my position here in these discussions:
"You agree that you will not attempt to, or encourage or assist any other person to, circumvent or modify any software required for use of the Service or any of the Usage Rules". Quotation marks are mine.

Reply

Answer 6

fflynn Author

Level 3

520 points

Aug 8, 2005 7:34 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Hi Kirk,

Why do I feel I'm being chastised here? I sense that you assume a willingness on my part to "bend" the law. My original question, in essence, was simply, "How do I use an ITMS mp4 tune in a QT movie?". The vids I'm working with are old family movies - weddings, birthdays, etc., transferred from 8mm film to VHS tape and then to my Mac. There to be edited and sent back to family members as keepsakes. I have never uploaded a video to the web - don't even know how.

The only method I found to convert these in QT6 is apparently "clumsy" and amateurish (and I'll readily cop to being a clumsy amateur when it comes to video processing), but you fail offer me a more "elegant" solution.

I too, appreciate the existence of these Apple forums, and I've received much valued help from the resident experts.
I'm here to learn, not to cheat. If I'd wanted to do that I could have downloaded one of the Mac hacks.

I'm a tech writer by trade,so I'm well aware of, and grateful for, the protections afforded by copyright law. It would be against my own interests to wilfully violate them.

End of rant. Let's all be friends and learn from each other in the spirit of these discussion groups.

Reply

Answer 7

Aug 9, 2005 5:51 AM in response to fflynn

Put all the purchased m4p's into a playlist and burn its contents to a CD. Select the CD in iTunes and its contents will be copied to your play list as mp3's

If you want to use them in a QT movie, I'd suggest changing your iTunes'Importing' preference to "AAC," then use the "Import" and "Add" functions in QT to add them to your movie. You can then save as .mov and your movie will play alright.

Reply

Answer 8

Aug 14, 2005 6:16 PM in response to fflynn

I tried burning a CD with my protected files from iTunes, but it wouldn't let me burn them. I also want to use them in family QT movies. Any other suggestions?

Reply

Answer 9

Aug 14, 2005 7:19 PM in response to Nikki Kirsch

Nikki, welcome to these discussions.
You can use the files "locally" in an iMovie (or iPhoto movie). Locally means not "shared".
If you can't "burn" them then you don't "own" them.
No one here can "fix" this without violating the "terms of use" agreement.

Reply

Answer 10

Aug 14, 2005 7:21 PM in response to Nikki Kirsch

Notwithstanding copyright issues, I believe iTunes will let you make CDs from your purchased music. However, iTunes will only burn to an internal CD writer (the last time I tried it).

What version of software are you using (OS X version, and iTunes version), and what hardware are you using?

Also, you might have more luck asking this question on the iTunes forum. It really is not a Quicktime question.

Reply

Answer 11

Sep 29, 2005 8:19 AM in response to fflynn

I have a similar question. It seems that I can use music purchased from the iTunes store in iMovie and then burn the results to a DVD using iDVD. I cannot, however, seem to use music purchased from the iTunes store in 3rd party slide show programs for the very same use. I'm sorry Apple, but that doesn't sit right with me. Is there some way to fix this or should we purchase music from elsewhere so that we can use it legally in whatever authoring program we choose?

Thanks,

Craig

Reply