Questions about Soundfonts and monetizing your compositions....

[MikeViper]

Hey, MikeViper here. Eventually I would like to monetize my compositions. The problem is though, is that I use soundfonts. I know that soundfonts can use samples from various sources. So if I used these soundfonts in my music, would I run into copyright issues?

If so, are there any royalty free soundfonts out there?

[ohaiguy]

I've never monetized something with soundfonts before. However, as long as you stay away from really obvious rips (ex: insert game name here soundfonts) most of the other sounds are so similar to sounds in other banks it's almost impossible to figure out where they originally came from anyway (ex: Timpani soundfont .) But, if you want to be really safe, if anything is ripped don't use it.

My best resource I could give you is this

http://www3.telus.net/anapan8/oldscardemu.htm

You can find links to quite a few different resources/soundfonts here. My personal favorite I've played with are for Roland. I'm almost positive there are some royalty free things here.

Edited January 4, 2014 by ohaiguy

[Meteo Xavier]

Apart from some of the SNES soundfonts, which, last time I heard on, was still kind of a legal gray area, how would anyone even know you were ripping them and using them illegally? I think the chances of someone of antagonistic interest finding that out and prosecuting you for it are so, so, so tiny you might not have to worry about it.

I'm not supporting piracy by saying that, I'm just saying the wages of sin there are probably too light to worry about it, like we all have photocopied parts of books without publisher's written and expressed permission, or taped football games or cartoons or whatever.

[MikeViper]

Apart from some of the SNES soundfonts, which, last time I heard on, was still kind of a legal gray area, how would anyone even know you were ripping them and using them illegally? I think the chances of someone of antagonistic interest finding that out and prosecuting you for it are so, so, so tiny you might not have to worry about it.

I'm not supporting piracy by saying that, I'm just saying the wages of sin there are probably too light to worry about it, like we all have photocopied parts of books without publisher's written and expressed permission, or taped football games or cartoons or whatever.

So I most likely won't get any legal trouble?

Also, say I save up and buy a VST, does that usually give you the right to use it commercially?

[Killjoy]

Also, say I save up and buy a VST, does that usually give you the right to use it commercially?

That can vary. Check the license agreement for a particular piece of software or sound library for what restrictions exist in that case

Most virtual instruments' included sound libraries or separate libraries you can purchase will allow you to use those samples in your own commercial recordings. I'm sure there are examples of ones that don't allow it, but I can't think of one right off the top of my head

[Moseph]

Also, say I save up and buy a VST, does that usually give you the right to use it commercially?

You'd need to read its license agreement to be absolutely certain, but I've never heard of a commercially-available VST/sample library that prohibits commercial use (except for educational or not-for-resale versions). There are occasionally minor restrictions on exactly how they can be used commercially (e.g. must be used in a musical work in combination with two or more other instruments), but not blanket prohibitions.

[Meteo Xavier]

Of course you can use most of them in commercial productions - why would you pay $200-$500+ for them to not use them when you really want to?

[Nabeel Ansari]

Of course you can use most of them in commercial productions - why would you pay $200-$500+ for them to not use them when you really want to?

Because there's thing called school

[Meteo Xavier]

It seems the forum software only posted half of your sentence there, Neblix. Clarify please.

[Killjoy]

I think what he means is that there are some out there that are licensed for educational use only. A lot of the big name programs have "educational" versions intended for institutional use, often these will be a package of multiple licenses at a discounted rate. This is common with most notation software, but has become more prevalent over the years with sequencers and plug-ins, as well

[Meteo Xavier]

I thought that contingency was sort of self-contained and fairly explanatory (thank you Coen brothers), but, yes, that is a well-enough used factor that I should say "fair enough then".

In general purchasing, education and other unique discounts excluded, of course you can use legit VSTs in commercial products. That's what they're made for, you wouldn't be expected to pay that much for high quality sounds just to play around with it and not make any money back.