Problem with WERSI - solved.

[strav101]

Shit!
What a story! Unbeliveable!

Still, it's good the assholes are out of business now!

[chj]

Great. Is there any legal action you can bring? I'd check whether the company can be held responsible for the actions of ex-employees.

Not sure if they can be held liable for damages unless they knew about the infringement. However, once they are informed of the infringement, I'm pretty sure they can be held liable for any damages if they continue.

So definitely send a letter, not just an email, a hardcopy letter, preferably certified mail to all relevant people/addresses/entities. Explain that you hold the rights, that you absolutely object to your product being distributed, and demand that it stop immediately.

[GeorgeZ]

Bad luck for Musik Store - Cologne. You by the brand, you buy the history. They bought a dud, and if they're still selling the software, they have to pay up. If not, explain that these asswipes sold scammed software and that he's not eligible for an upgrade, if he wants beef he can go to Musik Store - Cologne.

When you buy a company you buy it's service history and support over as well...

Simple... and legal.

[ZioKiller]

We haven't signed a contract because at the time the Company went out of business, we were still discussing the terms of our deal. I think that the new owner has nothing more to do with the previous Company. I already am in touch with Musik Store Cologne, and they assured me that they are not selling those upgrades any more and they don't deal with the old Wersi employees any more. But it's just their word.

I won't sue anyone, I din't write this post because I want to recover my money or whatever, I just want people know what happens around... there are boys that download pirated softwares in their bedroom, and there are companies that distribute software without permission.

As far as I know, they have been selling no more than 100 upgrades, so at worst there are 100 people who own the same VB3 "unauthorized license"
Too bad for them. They could have had the same thing for much less money, and with a legit license.

[pough]

Too bad for them. They could have had the same thing for much less money, and with a legit license.

Sounds like WERSI were familiar with the terms Value Added Reseller and Not For Resale, but live in Bizarro World.

[NEK-X]

Hi

I almost cannot believe what you say there.
Both (Wersi and Music-Store) are very much confessed
Companies with a good reputation.

On the web page of Music-Store I cannot discover your software.

Best of all YOU hand over the matter to a lawyer of your trust.

A lot of success!

[darsho]

it's actually a good business opportunity.
They messed up legally, so if you hire a good lawyer now, you might have some nice cash coming to you.

[synaesthesia]

That is really awful practice on their half. I think you're right not to worry about hiring lawyers and pursuing damages, in the long run you won't get much out of it sadly. But, you're right to get confirmation and clarification in writing that Musik Store will no longer be distributing your product. That will be vital if you ever get the opportunity to develop a new distribution relatiosnhip with another company.

Your main concentration needs to be on those people who bought your product with a bad license. Bad as this situation has been, they're now actually a business opportunity for you and how you deal with them will have a greater impact on your business/reputation in the long run than any litigation issues.

Hope it all works out for the best.

And I don't have an organ emulation in my arsenal, so I'm going to check yours out! Swings and roundabouts eh?

Cheers.

[ZioKiller]

you're right to get confirmation and clarification in writing that Musik Store will no longer be distributing your product.

This isn't said yet. As I said, Musik Store Cologne, the new owner and distributor of Wersi, isn't involved in this bad story. This all happened with the old Wersi, before they went out of business.

Actually, MSC contacted me recently for the same reason I was contacted early by Wersi, they want to bundle VB3 with their Pegasus Wing keyboard. But when I told them this story, they had some doubts. Now let's see what they have to say...

[Bastiaan from Tone2.com]

Not sure if they can be held liable for damages unless they knew about the infringement. However, once they are informed of the infringement, I'm pretty sure they can be held liable for any damages if they continue.

If Wersi's license was labeled NFR the infringement should be pretty much a given.

So definitely send a letter, not just an email, a hardcopy letter, preferably certified mail to all relevant people/addresses/entities. Explain that you hold the rights, that you absolutely object to your product being distributed, and demand that it stop immediately.

Solid advice, if only to ensure there has been an official action from your side in case something happens further down the line, chances are that you'll receive more support requests from Wersi's unauthorized customers and you should at the very least be compensated for having to deal with that.

All the best with this Ziokiller.

[JuergenPB]

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.

I was contacted by WERSI a while back - at least I think it was WERSI. The subsequent documentation and contract had the name "WildNoise" on it. In any case, I sold them the distribution rights to the entire line of NuBi/Spinner products. I got paid a reasonable sum for it so I haven't given it much thought since then.

I will have to take a look at the initial emails from them again - I do seem to remember they mentioned contacting several other Hammond Clone VSTI developers before they contacted me. I don't recall the specifics at the moment.

As far as I know their development of a Hammond Clone will be based on the NuBiPlus/VFX/Spinner combination and be presented as a single unified package. This is something I wanted to do but never quite had time to produce. When the offer came it seemed like a potentially nice epilog to my I-really-suck-as-a-marketer VST experience.

As it happens, I just heard from one of their developers two days ago so it appears they are still going ahead with the project at this time ...

Here it is: http://www.wild-noise.de/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=54 (http://www.wild-noise.de/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=54&vmcchk=1&Itemid=54)

[Mattiiiii]

To the OP: I would pay 50 EUR or so to contact a lawyer and to let him/her write the letter to Wersi. Without legal advice, you may find yourself in a much worse position when Wersi or their new owners contact their lawyer, after finding your post here. Wersi and the new owner have a reputation to lose and they also may be motivated to sort out things quickly without going to court. They have reasons to fear German copyright law, which is pretty strict as soon as you make money (or want to gain reputation) with someone else's work. I recommend legal advice to protect you, your copyright and to get things straight.

[Acid Mitch]

To the OP: I would pay 50 EUR or so to contact a lawyer and to let him/her write the letter to Wersi. .

Hopefully the op did all this 6 months ago when the thread died.(check dates of posts before JuergenP8 )
Bit late to be giving him advice me thinks.

[ZioKiller]

I didn't, shame on me. And I've been recently contacted by another Wersi customer who wants to know how he can update his "pirated" VB3 license... I fear there's nothing I can do.

[Cyforce]

Receving a vst after demand as NFR, and than they putting it under her brand as product in the world and sale it?

Thats heavy heavy crime, and this under a brand of music store koeln... woow...
Heavy... reallllly heavy.

On your position, i would search very(!) fast a laywer, because such act, is absolutly crime, so you can be sure, there would wait a big redress.