u-he Zebra2 Patch Library free Soundsets / Licensing

[tc:TC:tc]

Hi.

I'm an old-timer. I am new to DAWs, VSTs and to forum membership of any type. I followed the link to this site from the u-he website. Glad to join what looks like a forum packed with useful stuff and friendly people giving advice.

I purchased u-he Zebra2 recently and have created some short audio-visual 'sonic experiments' that friends are asking me to upload to YouTube. The audio makes fairly extensive use of a few of the presets available through the link https://u-he.com/PatchLib/zebra.html. I was hoping to find a register that might provide some standard information about each preset, in particular licensing. The link is to a collection of what appears to be free-to-download preset packs. There is a separate link in the Patch Library to commercial soundsets for Zebra2, but I don't want to make any assumptions about the linked sets in terms of licensing or attribution.

My question is probably one for Brian Rzycki (bmrzycki) as he maintains the u-he PatchLib, but I have to create a couple of entries in the forum before I can PM him. Anyway, here's the question: Are ALL of the presets available through the zebra link above free to use and to publish, ie. to make available through YouTube? My videos are non-commercial and created originally for my own amusement. I don't want to be accused of licence infringement.

Sorry if this is a bit of a 'Noddy' question. Thanks in advance for any helpful information or suggestions.

tc:TC:tc

[rafa1981]

I would say that 99.999% yes for them to be public, otherwise sharing them would be useless.

[bmrzycki]

Howdy, I'll first say I'm not a lawyer nor am I an employee of u-he. I perform the curation of the PatchLib strictly as an unpaid volunteer. If anyone is really concerned about legal liability they need to have their particular use-case reviewed by an intellectual property lawyer.

The PatchLib started as an ad-hoc sharing of sounds between KVR forum members and has grown since then. The intent has always been good faith sharing and in the few cases someone asked me to pull their presets I immediately did so. It's been a vibrant and happy community for over 10 years now and I personally am not aware of any legal troubles from free presets shared on it.

My videos are non-commercial and created originally for my own amusement. I don't want to be accused of licence infringement.

This use-case is probably one of the least worrysome categories IMO. Were you sampling sounds to create a massive commercial soundpack for a new hardware workstation I'd say otherwise. However, see my disclaimer above.

The link is to a collection of what appears to be free-to-download preset packs. There is a separate link in the Patch Library to commercial soundsets for Zebra2, but I don't want to make any assumptions about the linked sets in terms of licensing or attribution.

The free sounds on the PatchLib were freely downloadable at the time I added them. They tend to fall into 4 categories:

• a quick one-off group of presets by someone or a group of people: usually marked "Free for everyone to enjoy"

• a former commercial bank the author decided to release for free

• demo sounds intended to entice potential customers to purchase a commercial set

• a commissioned free bank

When the authors of these sounds released them I tried to keep the archive in the same layout as they released it with all the non-preset files included. It's the #1 reason I haven't created a massive, single, patch archive: the preset licensing can vary per .zip file and getting permission from every person who's donated would be next to impossible. Some of the contributors have disappeared online after contributing amazing sounds.

I don't want to make any assumptions about the linked sets in terms of licensing or attribution.

If your primary concern is licensing you must only use sounds from archives containing a licensing agreement document. If there isn't one in the archive you need to contact the original contributor of the sounds for an explicit agreement.

There is a separate link in the Patch Library to commercial soundsets for Zebra2, but I don't want to make any assumptions about the linked sets in terms of licensing or attribution.

Commercial soundsets and their demo pack partners almost always have licensing conditions in the archive. They are almost always clear about how you can, and cannot, use them.

[tc:TC:tc]

Thank you, Brian, for a very comprehensive reply. Before raising the question here I wrote to one of the major contributors to the PatchLib Zebra2 library, someone closely associated with the u-he team. His presets [not yet sure whether I'm using the term properly: VSTi vs plugin vs preset vs soundset - they seem to be interchangeable] are fantastic and extremely varied. I found an email address on his website but I guess it is disused. I was asking for clarification along the lines here, seeking permission if it was the case that it was needed to go ahead. As you hint ... it will be difficult to get individual permission. I think I'll just have to upload my stuff where licensing is addressed within the zip file and abandon the other pieces.
Great work with the PatchLib ... thanks for what you have done.

[neuromod]

Plug-ins are like mini-apps that run within a host, VSTs being the most widely-used format for plug-ins. VSTi designates an instrument as opposed to an effect. A preset refers to a patch (a single "set" of settings used at once), while a soundset is a collection of presets.

[tc:TC:tc]

Thank you, neuromod, for making things clear.