Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] Copyrights on samples
From: Chris Cannam (cannam_AT_all-day-breakfast.com)
Date: Tue Oct 14 2003 - 10:21:48 EEST
On Monday 13 Oct 2003 8:54 pm, iriXx wrote:
> you will have a certain element of copyright in your mechanical
> recording of the piano, but the copyright in the sample still
> belongs to korg/roland/yamaha etc, who are likely to be quite
> protective of them. [...]
> it would be analagious to someone re-recording one of your songs
> and then claiming that they own the copyright on your song.
I'm sure it isn't quite that simple either. I suspect it's one of
those murky things that has never properly been tested either way.
The whole purpose of these instruments is to be performed, recorded,
and otherwise redistributed. That's what they sell them for.
Imagine you put out a minimal electro track recorded with a Roland
instrument (as many have done) and described it on the back as a
recording of a Roland instrument. Could they sue you for that?
Would you need to acknowledge their copyright in the samples even as
you retained copyright in the song? What exactly is the difference
between that and a sample CD? Is it "fair use" to use a certain
selection of the available range of notes, but wholesale piracy to
duplicate the entire pitch range? Is it just about intention?
People here have referred to licensing provisions, but I'm not at all
convinced that embedded software distributed as an integral part of a
device that is undoubtedly _sold_ to you (not licensed) could ever be
legally said to be licensed rather than sold, and I'm certainly not
sure that any such license could be said to cover the results of
running the software (that is, the sounds).
How far would such a company get in suing you for putting out a
soundfont recorded from one of their _acoustic_ grand pianos? What
about a violin maker? (OK, that'd doubtless be an awful soundfont,
but you get the idea.) Again, what is the difference? The synth has
software in it, sure, but you're not copying the software.
Ethically, I happen to think that duplicating a Roland in free
software is a pretty dubious activity. Legally, I reckon Roland
could probably bring enough vague threats to get your ISP to pull the
site you distributed it from, but I'm not at all persuaded they'd win
a case in court, even in the US. Not that I know anything worth
knowing about this, of course: I'm just enjoying theorising about it.
Chris
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