Hello,
I have a question that's been bothering me lately. I want to start taking my cinematic music to actual projects (small movies, video games, etc.) and whatever money I'd get out of it would be used to fund licenses of the kontakt libraries that I use. So my question is this:
is it safe to take my music to outside projects when I don't have a license for most of the stuff I use ? The prospects of getting sued scares me a bit...

 

Nothing ever safe but it depends who is on the projects and any legal contract that you have with them, but You got to start somewhere IMO

No Risk No Reward!!!

 

The melody aspects and the overall "how it sounds" thing should bother you more than the tools you use. You should worry more about originality rather than libs you use, because you will mix(process)them anyway and mostly, for example the strings libraries sounds similar in the end, because their particular "signature" sound will be altered anyway in the mix, so you'd better have more chances by winning the lottery instead of being sued by your tools's company.

EDIT: There will always exist fear and scary assertions made by overall companies in their "license agreement" thing to scary the sh*t out of us as a way of making us understand that we can easely get cought, when there's actually the opposite.

I don't say i support anyone to never pay for their software. I bought some of my tools too after i started making money from music and also deciding what i use the most so i purchase only what was useful for my needs, supporting the companies because they deserve every penny when you fully benefit from their tools in your music making process.

 

Even the old H2o/AiR releases used to come with the reminder "Don't Make Money Off Of Warez"...

it's up to you to take that for face value or not...

 

No... it is NOT safe.

I've been asked to sign documents indicating the use of certain libraries (for instance, you can't use Big Fish Audio in production library music without paying for additional licenses). On another occasion, I was asked to show the License Agreement and receipt for the software. Since I legally purchase my software, I now submit a list of all software used with scanned images of receipts and licenses to prevent anymore delays in contracts and therefore, my payment(s)! I have not and will not use anything I've downloaded from AudioZ in my production work... too easy to trace.

Good luck to you... you've already committed the crime, so prepare to do the time!!

 

Plenty of free libs and plugins out there if ur THAT worried about it.

Personally i think its a whooole bunch of fearmongering and 98% of the time, u should be fine.

 

nevermind, I love danger zone

 

I did hear the OP say

Will some guy in a black suit still knock on his door even AFTER he has purchased the libraries in question... being that he WILL have legitimate licenses for them

I imagine him taking all his paypal statements as proof as purchase eh? Then will they still "give him time" because the purchases were made AFTER he actually used the products?

Ok try this.... YOU ... try posting some of your old libraries that you HATE on ebay.... and watch how fast they yank your auctions down... that alone.. tells you something ... the MAKERS of libraries are scared to death of product getting around... because there is nothing they can do about it...

And yes... when someone loads a library on my machine and leaves it there... IF I by chance find it later... and USE it... I too pay for it.... so I have been in the same situation that the Original Poster (OP) is in...

decades later...

STILL GOT MY BLOOD ! :dancing:

 

+1...for real, by the time the hired mob is at your door you will have all your licences to show...go ahead and have success so you can pay for the instruments you are using

 

What about modified libraries, where you take the WAV files and edit them to your taste and use them to create your custom libraries, or if they are encrypted (NKX Kontakt files or whatever extension, I can't remember) you use a software like Extreme Sample Converter to extract those samples and then edit them, improve them to make your own libraries, how could someone tell which libraries did you use?

For example, you know keyboards with sampling ability: Korg Pa3x, Yamaha Tyros 2,3,4...a lot of those keyboard users did extract WAV files from Kontakt/VSTi libraries and used them in their keyboards, and played with their keyboards at weddings, where they were paid for playing. Yes, they didn't sign anything about the samples (libraries) they used, but they did made money with WAV files that they did not *own*.

Sorry if this may be a little out of topic, but it is a bit related. When you edit some samples, improve them, they still don't belong to you, but it may be harder to be recognized.

 

You gullible audiosexer

Don't try to scare this kid. Firstly, think about the other soundset/samples Companies who rips off samples from different bunches of other commercial libraries companies adding a bit of compression, distortion and EQ and they SELL them on their own, these companies even stole/cheat each other saying in their ads "Yea' man, we did from scratch THE BEST samples pack on the market for you" (they actually be kinda like "DJ Khaled" in this prank call bellow: )

 

Ok so based on some of the comments, and because I am a pretty risk averse person, I think I'll wait until I have a basic palette of legit libraries. Plus I personally don't really like the idea of making money off of someone's hard work and not even paying for it. But I honestly don't understand how one is supposed to start 100% legit. Let's do some math here. If I want to be able to write orchestral music, I would need at least these:
- Komplete: 1000 USD
- Cine perc pack: 1000 USD
- Cine brass pack: 750 USD
- 8 DIO choirs: 900 USD
- Albion 1 2 and 3: 1670 USD
- A piano library + a harp library = about 400 USD
- Project Alpha: 200 USD
- Spitfire Solo strings : 280 USD
That's a total of 6200 USD, add about 20% VAT. That's a pretty large upfront investment...

 

You have to start from somewhere (i mean... in a way or another... y.k.w.i.m) but as Kontakt Guru said: "No Risk No Reward".

 

Well I'm a recent graduate still looking for a job. I can expect maybe 1.6k euros a month as a first salary (given that I find a job in the current job market) so I guess it's going to take at least a couple years to get the "core" libraries I need but I guess that's how life is. Nothing comes easy, nothing is free... and valar morghulis

 

Why Wait???

Let me give you a scenario, 5 years ago i started taking music serious i had no sample libraries i was using factory libraries from Sonar, Cakewalk, Fl Studio & some free libraries i could find.

I was serious about it but was not sure because the quality wasn't there:

No monitors
Crappy Headphones
Messy Bedroom Studio
No midi Keyboard
Let's not talk about System Specs
Pretty much nothing

So before i wasted any money on hardware i wanted to see what expensive libraries had to offer, i had the money but i torrented(yes torrent by only for test purposes lol) a copy of KOMPLETE 5 and was immediately blown away from that day on i knew this was something i wanted to do long term. Long story short this is what i did:
I had two options
1.Buy software instruments as much money i can spend(buy hardware after making money)
2.Buy as much quality hardware as much money i can spend(Download warez and when start making money 25% of money went to paying them off)

Obviously to me option 2 made more sense and i set off to my musical endeavors.

I then had a enough money to start buying sample libraries i was using but i didn't...... I wanted access to libraries not on the scene so i bought my first sample library collection it was one of those EastWest Play Bundles 5 products for $1999.99

Soon after I bought Komplete 6 and was in debt to N.I for starting my career in the right direction and since then owned much of their product base.

The steps i took were very thought out at that time and i thought i made great decisions and i still believe i did.

You will eventually realize you can't pay for someone hardwork right now but the day will come where you will, but either way he will still get paid if your a loyal customer and want to be free from legal issues. Go on use warez but only for a good cause(i will only support that) and not trying to be some Kontakt library Collector that never drop a dime on any library)

 

Absolutely not you don't need all that libraries to compose a track, Komplete itself should be enough to start with...!

However there are less expensive libraries on the market, see Strezov Sampling Cornucopia for the strings or Soundiron Olympus Element for the choir and Emotional Piano for the piano. All you need to do is searching! *yes*

 

I think for electronic music or beat making, Komplete is enough for the most part (As in: if you can't make good music with Komplete, other tools won't do you any good). However when it comes to orchestral stuff, only Action Strings and the pianos would come in handy in the Komplete setup (+ effects vsts like guitar rig, EQs and compressors).
As far as finding cheaper libraries, I think you're right. I COULD find cheaper alternatives but now that I'm used to using the best products, it's hard to go for the lesser alternative . And also my workflow is kind of based around certain libraries, I know all the ins and outs, I know how to get the sound I want.
So I think I will save up money and buy 50% of the libraries I need before I really start doing this professionally and keep increasing my legit % as I go along.

 

if you are Going To Get Payed for your Music/Beats Then all you have to do to Protected your self and your clients is is to Buy just the Kit's /Library's that you use in that Music/Beat then you are covered you are Not giving your music away are you i would hope you are getting Payed way More then the sound Kit/Library costs

( Make as Much Music/Beats as you want with Downloaded Sound Sample Kit's and if some one Wants to Buy one then just buy the Kit you used and you are Goooood )

 

I don't get this... One of my buddies is an actual classical music composer. I'm not even sure he OWN a computer. He just use a piano and tons of papers.

Seriously don't bother with your license (just keep away from acapella or full line/loops), you shouldn't get any trouble.

If you're serious about it, buy what you can, + it'll make you a better worker.
If you're a disrespectful a**hole : don't buy anything and make a living out of theft.