Library usage royalties

In reality you have already paid for the licenses, I really think you can use them however you see fit.

Go ahead, don't worry at all. By purchasing the libraries, you have acquired the usage licenses; therefore, their use within compositions for commercialization is included among the permitted uses. Don't believe that even large recording studios do not use sampled libraries when needed. Furthermore, I cannot imagine what the purpose of buying a library would be if you couldn't then use it for commercial purposes... By purchasing it, you hold all usage rights.

...and then how to determine beforehand if a CD will be successful, remain unsold, or is just an "exercise."

As TheSimon says, once you've bought them, you can do whatever you want with them... for them, it's even indirect advertising

It's as if someone were recording a CD playing on a Steinway or....a Bösendorfer......

They don't have to pay anything to whoever built the instrument.

TheSimon wrote:

Go ahead without any worries. By purchasing the libraries, you have taken possession of the usage licenses; therefore, their use within compositions for commercialization is included among the permitted uses. Don't believe that even large recording studios don't use sampled libraries when needed. Furthermore, I cannot imagine what the point of buying a library would be if you couldn't then use it for commercial purposes... By purchasing it, you hold all usage rights.

Simone, I fear that it is not always like this. Conditions of use can be imposed, such as having to publicly declare their use; but even this can happen (I don't know if there are other cases): http://www.pipeloops.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=41

Personally, to be safe, I would always take a look at the manufacturer's website.

I think it is understandable that there is a statement towards the parent company, so those who use illegal copies of the libraries would be caught... and it protects - in a broad sense - those who pay for the products.

Honestly, it's the first time I've come across something like this...

Maybe because they want to pass themselves off as a special library, in a broad sense, it seems more to me that they just want to show off.

The logic, in my opinion, is this... I buy a library paying who knows how much, I haven't even seen it; then I cannot create products.

The question arises spontaneously... What am I buying? A library to play around with at home?

I mean... If I have the need to "play," native samples in Logic or Kontakt are enough for me; if I spend a certain amount to buy good samples, it's probably because I need them to create a product. It's like walking into a shop that sells skis, buying a pair, then going to the mountains and being able to use them only for downhill runs on groomed slopes... "If you want to race on a black run, you have to ask us for permission". What kind of marketing policy would that be?

Thinking about it again, I have come to this conclusion: if I use a library and sell my CDs, it is the production company that should pay me, because I am promoting their product, especially if the product sells....

We all know that there are sites where these cracked VSTs can be found; I am not inciting the use of this software, but I wonder: who puts them online? Are they "benefactor" users who, after spending hundreds if not thousands of euros (or dollars) to buy very expensive libraries, "give them away" to others for humanitarian purposes..? In reality, production companies have every interest in word-of-mouth developing so that someone might purchase their product, even if many others will limit themselves to downloading them. In this regard, one only needs to think that the PlayStation saw an increase in sales mainly due to the fact that it is easily modifiable to read downloaded DVDs.

So, this story about asking for permission seems like a "trick" to me, something they write in license agreements but which even they don't believe in. Then I wonder: if I am in Italy, how can a production company that perhaps is based in California sue me? What do they do, request extradition.....???

TheSimon wrote:

Honestly, it's the first time I've come across something like this...

But of course, on a practical level you are absolutely right. I only meant to say that websites list the terms of use, but in practice one can act as one sees fit. Imagine if the little man from that house of champions started listening to all the audio on the globe to pursue "transgressors"...!

geppino12575 wrote:

Thinking about it again, I have come to this conclusion: if I use a library and sell my CDs, it is the production company that should pay me, because I am promoting their product, especially if the product sells....

We all know that there are sites where these cracked VSTs can be found; I am not inciting the use of this software, but I wonder: who puts them online? Are they "benefactor" users who, after spending hundreds if not thousands of euros (or dollars) to buy very expensive libraries, "give them away" to others for humanitarian purposes..? In reality, production companies have every interest in word-of-mouth developing so that someone can purchase their product, even if many others will limit themselves to downloading them. In this regard, one only needs to think that the PlayStation saw an increase in sales mainly due to the fact that it is easily modifiable to read downloaded DVDs.

So, this whole business about asking for permission seems like a "trick" to me, something they write in license agreements but which even they don't believe in. Then I wonder: if I am in Italy, how can a production company that perhaps is based in California sue me? What do they do, request extradition.....???

They can do it by suing you in Italy (if they have a dealer or an Italian headquarters, it's even easier). You too, if you want, can go, say, to France, hire a lawyer, and sue a resident (of course there must be a plausible reason).

Anyway, it remains a very unlikely thing, in my opinion. It remains to be seen whether you sell the CDs yourself or use a commercial channel; in that case, it will be them who protect themselves...