Who has more rights over Virtual Guitarist 2 after nasty divorce ?

[TS-12]

So who has more rights to discontinued and abandoned Wizoo Steinberg Virtual Guitairst 2 , Steinberg or UJAM ?

I understand it was very terrible of Wizoo ditching Steinberg and partnering with Avid as Air Music brand. But now Wizoo / AirMusic is UJAM.

[TS-12]

Is there a way we can have both companies legally sign some paperwork so they can re-release this amazing instrument ? Since after the split neither are allowed to resell, rebrand, re-release or support it.


summary by AI:

Based on the history of the product, Steinberg likely owns the rights to the Virtual Guitarist 2 (VG2) software as it existed in 2006, while UJAM owns the rights to the underlying concepts, the team behind it, and the new, modern virtual guitar engines.
Here is the breakdown of who has the rights and how the Wizoo/Steinberg/UJAM split occurred:
Steinberg (The Legacy Rights): Steinberg produced and distributed the original VG2. When Wizoo was acquired by Digidesign (Avid) in 2005, Steinberg kept the rights to continue selling the existing Virtual Guitarist 2 software for a limited period. Steinberg holds the rights to the old code, and because they do not own the updated technology, they have been unable to update VG2 for modern 64-bit systems.
Wizoo / AIR / UJAM (The IP Rights): The development team at Wizoo originally created VG1 and VG2. When they were bought by Digidesign (becoming AIR Music Tech), they brought their expertise there. However, key members (including Peter Gorges and Paul Kellett) eventually left to form UJAM, which is considered the true successor and the company that holds the IP for the rebooted Virtual Guitarist series (Iron, Amber, etc.).
Summary of Rights:
Who owns Virtual Guitarist 2 (2006)? Steinberg.
Who owns the "Virtual Guitarist" concept/brand for new products? UJAM.
Who has the source code to update 2? Likely neither, or it's stuck in a legal deadlock, hence it remains a 32-bit discontinued product.
Note: The original Wizoo/AIR team became UJAM and they have took the spirit of the project to create a new generation of virtual guitarists which unfortunately lack in sound quality and variety of patterns compared to Virtual Guitarist 2.

[martinjuenke]

UJAM and AIR are one family?

[TS-12]

UJAM and AIR are one family?

Pretty much, they used to be Wizoo then Air and now UJAM

[martinjuenke]

UJAM and AIR are one family?

Pretty much, they used to be Wizoo then Air and now UJAM

Afaik you're wrong.
AIR and UJAM are different companies.
Both have some roots in Wizoo, but were always separate entities.

[whyterabbyt]

AIR and UJAM are different companies.
Both have some roots in Wizoo, but were always separate entities.

Correct. Its even stated as such in the AI 'summary'. Wizoo became AIR, but UJAM was a new company formed by people who had left AIR.

[whyterabbyt]

https://www.ujam.com/blog/the-virtual-guitarist-idea/

[TS-12]

https://www.ujam.com/blog/the-virtual-guitarist-idea/

yea.. UJAM virtual guitars sound like plastic, nothing like Virtual Guitarist 2

[whyterabbyt]

https://www.ujam.com/blog/the-virtual-guitarist-idea/

yea.. UJAM virtual guitars sound like plastic, nothing like Virtual Guitarist 2

And are you suggesting that that somehow changes the facts as to who came up with the idea for VG, who built the prototype, who developed it, and who thus have always had the rights to it?

[martinjuenke]

https://www.ujam.com/blog/the-virtual-guitarist-idea/

yea.. UJAM virtual guitars sound like plastic, nothing like Virtual Guitarist 2

And are you suggesting that that somehow changes the facts as to who came up with the idea for VG, who built the prototype, who developed it, and who thus have always had the rights to it?

No, he's actually Plastic Bertrand trying to boost his clicks:

[mixtur.se]

I can’t beliebers how bad Ujam`s take on VG is compared to the original, which also gave you the possibility to re-arrange loops. NI session guitarist is the closest by concept, but I don’t like the fact that the presets are spread across multiple independent libraries.

Sven Bornemark (Swedish) was the creative mastermind behind VG. They may have the original developers but they are missing the musicality and spirit of the original which came from Sven.

[mothra]

UJAM and AIR are one family?

Pretty much, they used to be Wizoo then Air and now UJAM

Afaik you're wrong.
AIR and UJAM are different companies.
Both have some roots in Wizoo, but were always separate entities.

And AIR is actually inMusic now. They're basically not doing anything whatsoever but porting their 'plugins' to the MPC so Akai can get even more of your money (because the money you just spent on the MPC wasn't enough for Jack O'Donnell to maintain his lifestyle).

[TS-12]

I can’t beliebers how bad Ujam`s take on VG is compared to the original, which also gave you the possibility to re-arrange loops. NI session guitarist is the closest by concept, but I don’t like the fact that the presets are spread across multiple independent libraries.

Sven Bornemark (Swedish) was the creative mastermind behind VG. They may have the original developers but they are missing the musicality and spirit of the original which came from Sven.

yes NI guitars sound really good. but lack many useful go-to patterns. VG2 had patterns for literally everything