I see some free packs that state for example as below

Sounds, loops and samples are licensed to you, not sold.

what does that mean exactly?

when you purchase something do they still state that? or its only for the free packs?

 

I worked in this field for a decade. It's a common license. It truly just means that you can't resell the samples. You can sell the music you make with them, but you can't sell the samples.

 

It's the same kind of "agreement" you see in software "EULA's". It's actually rather comical anyway because all these so-called sample houses are mainly just re-selling the same shit over and over again. Some candy coat the stuff with some processing where others are even lazier and simply re-package the same shit over and over. I'd guesstimate for a good 98% of all these "sample-packs" there has been more time spent giving their re-packaged dirges catchy names, and working up wacky, far-out artwork than they actually spend on making a sample pack release with NEW/Unique content. Which is why I don't bother with any of it anymore.

 

so even if purchased with monetary value its still not considered sold but licensed most often? thanks!

 

Yeah, you're buying a license to use them. This is all legalese, but the fact is that the only way you're buying samples is if the IP owner and you come to a very specific agreement in which you then own the samples and can then sell or distribute them however you like. I did this in the '90s too, when samples came on CDs, and your sample CDs couldn't even be resold.

 

If they truly SOLD you the samples, ie. ALL the rights to them, you could legally make infinite copies of them and sell those copies for less than what you bought them for, putting the original sampler creators out of business.

Thus, it is virtually impossible to find digital goods you can genuinely BUY. Many countries will not even let you waive all your rights to your creations, even if you don't care what other people want to do with them.

 

Last edited: May 27, 2024

In most cases it is as @krameri says - However, in some cases, for example, MAGIX, when they say their samples are licensed, if you intend to sell any music you have made of your own using some of their samples in a commercial arena, you have to pay a license fee. I insisted on their support clarifying it and they did, so I chucked them, and made my own. Convenience sometimes comes at a financial price

 

That is, most countries, since most states have ratified the "Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention

Take a look at some long running open source projects and their copyright assignments for some interesting histories. Relicensing stuff is in no way fun and copyright laws are convoluted as fuck.