Legal Sampling

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Having just discovered the joys of Chainer, i want to make my own soundfonts by layering a few synths to get diff sounds. Basically, i want to know which ones i def can legally sample and turn into soundfonts. So, if you would be so kind as to list them....


Ta :wink:

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You need to clarify your question. Would you then sell the soundfonts, or simply use them to make original music? Don't make a soundfont by samplying Hey Jude, and then put it up for sale :)

Are you doing commercial releases yet? If not, you can use anything, as long as you don't promote hate crimes, make obscene music, etc. It's only when you are making art for commercial purposes that copyright issues come into play. I could be wrong, but I think it works that way.

I'm going to do a cover along the lines of Comfortably Numb by Scissor Sisters, and I plan to sample several bits off a hit song, and as long as I'm making it for non-commercial release, I think I can do whatever I want, without needing anyone's permission. viva Artistic Freedom!

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I think you got a bit confused there mate :?

Basically, i can sample synths that are not sample based or something. But i cant be arsed to go ito the tech speq of them all, so i want you lot to do the donkey work for me and list them :D

The soundfonts may be for sale, i doubt it though, not really something i do, but they may be included in a commercial package of some sorts.

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You can sample synths, sure, for home use and commerial sales. As long as its not a rompler. :P

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As long as what isnt a rompler? WTF are you lot on about???

IM GOING TO SAMPLE VST SYNTHS TO MAKE SOUNDFONTS TO PLAY IN VST SOUNDFONT PLAYERS

Clear enough?

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So... what is it that you're going to do? I didn't understand the question. Something to do with sampling songs for a rompler?

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He's making sample synths for a rompler? Oh, now I'm getting confused....

Devon
Simple music philosophy - Those who can, make music. Those who can't, make excuses.
Read my VST reviews at Traxmusic!

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Its pretty obvious what he's doing. something like sampling z3ta+ and making a soundfont out of it. afaik thats perfectly legal. As for those that wouldn't be legal, thats any pcm synths - like atmosphere or kompakt etc.

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Polychrome wrote:I'm going to do a cover along the lines of Comfortably Numb by Scissor Sisters, and I plan to sample several bits off a hit song, and as long as I'm making it for non-commercial release, I think I can do whatever I want, without needing anyone's permission.
If you keep the results to yourself, it would probably be legal, but the moment you share your work with the public, even if it's in a non-commercial manner, you are infringing on someone's copyright. Those are the USA rules, at least. You need to check the rules where you live, and if you distribute via the internet, you should probably check the rules in the other countries as well. There are some "fair use" exceptions that are made, but many of those can only be determined after a judge passes a ruling on the merits of your particular case. (Yes, you might still have to go to court, even if your activities are "fair use" in nature.)

That said, I've been told that you can pay a basic fee to someone like RIAA and legally create a cover version of practically any song you want. I think the rate is reasonable, especially if you don't plan to distribute many copies. (It's priced according to the size of your distribution.)

Kriminal: It would take a long time to trawl through all the VSTi plugins and determine which ones you could sample in perfect legal safety. Perhaps you could tell us a few of the names of VSTi synths you might want to sample, and we could help you more easily?

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And now for something completely different: a serious reply.

I think you can do all the RGC synths, for sure. IIRC, Rene's comments on copyright for synth sounds go something like "synth companies can claim all the rights they want to, but the law's not on their side no matter what they write in their EULAs, so they may as well be writing 'ignore this.'" :) I like that attitude. Especially if I got it right.

Also, considering you're using Chainer to do this, you should be fine in most, if not all cases. You're not getting the original waveforms or files - just the synth's actual output. Maybe try to change the name of the patch, too.

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back to initial Q:
I believe Mr.K wanted JUST to do this:

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a) sample VSTIs (non-sample based e.g. sound-generators) via chainer

b) save, archive and organise thus derived sound-font collections for personal use

c) potentially make such derived sample/soundfont collections comercially available.

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Well personally if I would have similar intentions, I'd contact VSTI author and ask about legalities.

comment: there's also another dimension to this questionnnaire - WHO was author of SOUND/PATCH you'd be sampling - potentially distributing.

claro everybody?

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damn you pough how can you be so crude ?

place your reply BELOW mine!

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Okay.

And now for something completely different: a serious reply.

I think you can do all the RGC synths, for sure. IIRC, Rene's comments on copyright for synth sounds go something like "synth companies can claim all the rights they want to, but the law's not on their side no matter what they write in their EULAs, so they may as well be writing 'ignore this.'" :) I like that attitude. Especially if I got it right.

Also, considering you're using Chainer to do this, you should be fine in most, if not all cases. You're not getting the original waveforms or files - just the synth's actual output. Maybe try to change the name of the patch, too.

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pough wrote:Maybe try to change the name of the patch, too.
That's a good point. You need to avoid using any factory patch names in your own work, and avoid trademarked company names like Roland(tm) as well.

You should also avoid using factory patches in your sampling, because those patches are protected by copyright. If you only use patches you have created yourself, you should be fine.

Some will argue that you could combine several factory sounds into one composite work, which would then be considered your original work, but don't count on a judge seeing things that way. In the USA, that would be considered a "derivative work", and unless you could convince a judge that it should be considered a "fair use" exemption, you're basically toast. In short, it might be legal, and it might not. It might also be expensive to find out. ;)

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Thanks for the sensible replies :D

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