u-he

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:29 am

Reading about plugin copy protection in another thread got me thinking that it's a shame that there's no way of protecting commercial preset banks.

If u-he could come up with a solution it might help creators of good quality preset banks to see a worthwhile return on time invested, which would mean more good quality commercial banks for u-he synths.

I have a half baked idea about how it might be done, but it's a half baked idea.

DefiantCatz70 · Post by **DefiantCatz70** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:12 pm

I have always wanted to design preset banks for a living or just that extra dosh, but I don't see the point on spending hours creating something special, just for someone to pirate it.....I agree with you hakey, I wish there was some sort of protection for these peoples hard work.

I would like to know is it possible in this Digital "Robin Hood Attitude" Age to make a living from creating presets?

Kriminal · Post by **Kriminal** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:18 pm

Synapse can put a watermark on them. Never bothered myself. Honest ppl will always buy, so you lose very little in the end.

Ghostwave · Post by **Ghostwave** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:31 pm

Same here. I protect none of my banks. I simply trust my customers.

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 3:23 pm

DefiantCatz70 wrote:I would like to know is it possible in this Digital "Robin Hood Attitude" Age to make a living from creating presets?

If you can churn them out, the going rate for factory banks is 15 Euros a preset.

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 3:36 pm

Kriminal wrote:Never bothered myself. Honest ppl will always buy, so you lose very little in the end.

Well I guess that's your intuition, but who knows?

My own intuition is that I wouldn't make enough money to compensate for the time and effort I'd have to invest, so I'm disinclined to give it a go.

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 3:37 pm

Ghostwave wrote: I simply trust my customers.

But you have little choice.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 3:46 pm

There are very easy ways to track where an illegal preset fileshare started. Ive read about it on this site. At least you can catch the one who first made it availible for illegal download.

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:03 pm

arkmabat wrote:At least you can catch the one who first made it availible for illegal download.

Not worth the hassle. What would you do once you'd tracked them down?

Bolting horses and stable doors... etc.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:07 pm

By not selling them anymore of your presets, for starters.

Kriminal · Post by **Kriminal** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:10 pm

Some ppl buy, some ppl steal. Its never going to change and you cant stop it.

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:48 pm

Kriminal wrote:Some ppl buy, some ppl steal. Its never going to change and you cant stop it.

And we'll never stop people nicking cars, but I still lock mine when I park it.

Some degree of copy protection for commercial soundbanks would be better than none.

TomTwohy · Post by **TomTwohy** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:41 pm

Presets are a convenient resource for musician, but making them hermetically sealed is just... silly.

People use presets as convenient "close enough" patches, then ADJUST as required! To make patches that cannot be edited are pointless... thousands of users redefine patches (releases, attacks, LFO speeds, etc) every day... there is no way to predict usage.

When I buy commercial patches, 50%-75% will often be useless until they are adjusted in some way, sure some are fine as is... but it is just arrogant and greedy to treat patches like some kind of "perfect" fine art that needs protection.

Pre-made patches are, quite frankly, the lazy users approach to synthesis... most commercial patch designers make money by quickly learning "new-synth-X" and pounding out as many sonic variations as possible. Sometimes it works, sometimes they spend more time crafting sounds... but it's just a convenience and manufacturers WISELY make few provisions to protect such work.

I'm not saying such patches are worthless, far from it... but I am saying that they are meant to be abused, torn apart, examined and otherwise handled by whoever buys them. If you can't handle this aspect... try a different line of work.

Seriously, if it is so hard for you to design a pile of sound patches that you INSIST on copy protection to be profitable...try a different line of work.

If unscrupulous people simply repackage the sounds and sell them as theirs, well... boo hoo.

No one is going to protect such work, if you cannot tolerate people wanting to adjust your sound, if you think your sound is worth SO much... you might as well sell it as a artistic recording (and good luck protecting that).

You had fun experimenting with a synth and selling the resulting sounds that people bought because they can't be bothered with learning how to program... well... easy come, easy go.

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:45 pm

TomTwohy wrote: To make patches that cannot be edited are pointless.

Copy protected patches could still be editable.

Seriously, if it is so hard for you to design a pile of sound patches that you INSIST on copy protection to be profitable...try a different line of work.

Thanks for the advice.

Kriminal · Post by **Kriminal** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:49 pm

TomTwohy wrote:Presets are a convenient resource for musician, but making them hermetically sealed is just... silly.

People use presets as convenient "close enough" patches, then ADJUST as required! To make patches that cannot be edited are pointless... thousands of users redefine patches (releases, attacks, LFO speeds, etc) every day... there is no way to predict usage.

What are you ranting about.....nobody said anything remotely like that

u-he

KVR Audio

DRM for preset banks?