Game SoundFonts: A VERY Complicated Copyright Issue

[@SoundFontGuy]

What do you think? Video game SoundFonts okay, or not okay? Join us on discord to talk games and music! - discord.com/invite/49FyFyy27t

[@Go_8834]

They are okay

[@amimirmimir512]

some game devs go crazy and basically say "i hope squidward doesn't mind me using his clarinet"

[@PreschoolFightClub]

Oh hey. You just described me when I made song using the Law & Order “dun dun” sound.

[@sabo-vf3xj]

Ironically, many of those sampling CDs include samples directly ripped from actual commercial songs, such as the Amen break or the Funky Drummer drums, directly breaking copyright laws.

[@SoundFontGuy]

It's funny how that works, isn't it? Kind of makes you wonder how many layers of infringement some artists have reached.

[@sabo-vf3xj]

​@@SoundFontGuy Yep. For example, Best Service sampling CDs directly lifts portions from old 70's/80's songs and TV recordings and, hilariously, most of them actually contain warnings about not using the samples for commercial products due to the contents "belonging" to Best Service.

[@SianaGearz]

One would think that the whole purpose of commercial sample CDs is that they should shield you from this trouble. That they have licensed the sounds in some cases, and in other cases, chose sounds where the composition isn't copyrightable for lack of musical substance, and the original performance copyright doesn't apply since they hired their own musicians to make the sounds from scratch, creating a new performance that they are the copyright holder of. But then of course gaffes and mistakes in this whole process can happen.

[@NotGabe001]

A similar example I can think of is Daft Punk. They used several samples from Zero-G sample CDs, which are for personal use only, in their songs Da Funk and Daftendirekt

[@sabo-vf3xj]

@@SianaGearz To be fair, a lot of those CDs were produced before the "Alone Again" lawsuit happened in 1991, where the court determined that sampling without permission of the original artist was copyright violation.

[@S-uu9dp]

fun fact: an official licensed Nintendo DS game called drawn to life ripped its instrument samples directly from the sgm soundfont.

[@splodesvault]

sgm itself is ripped from various sample cds and synthesizers so...

[@Swagmaster65]

I hold the opinion that copyright is a recently invented, fabricated problem. I will only avoid breaking it to avoid punishment, but I don't believe in it.

[@SoundFontGuy]

I sympathize with this opinion.

[@spacehobo1095]

Copyright, more like Copywrong am I right! To be serious though, sample piracy is cool and good and you can't convince me otherwise.

[@Jukestar]

Just transform a sample to where it isn't recognizable as often as you can. That's what I personally do.

[@Vingul]

@@Jukestar I completely forget what the original sample was when using the Elektron Digitakt, no way I could ever guess the source without checking. Even if I know the OG very well.

[@seanwieland9763]

Imaginary Property is completely fake and gay. Atoms are mutually exclusive, but information is not.

[@johnclark926]

I’m thankful sample/soundfont providers haven’t providers haven’t gone nuclear on game rereleases (yet). Video game publishers are abysmal when it comes to renewing licenses (for example, Nintendo took out the cute Ai no Uta Easter egg for the rerelease of Pikmin 2), if game publishers had to renew the samples used for the music we would either have to kiss goodbye any game released after the 5th console generation or 60% of all video game music would have to be replaced with Kevin MacLeod alternatives.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Yeah, it's clearly not something that is strictly enforced, but it's still important to exercise caution. One thing worth mentioning is that if you buy a physical synthesizer, the license to use it perpetual since it's a physical instrument, so Nintendo (and others) are probably safe from having to renew licenses on those particular elements. I can't speak to the other elements, however.

[@PanderingSlats]

Because they all (probably) recognize that the soundfont userbase has no money worth litigating. People with money (both making and using samples) by and large ditched sountfonts decades ago for sampling library plugins like Kontakt. Not saying this to put down Sountfont mind you, but it's like getting worried Sony will litigate fan projects to mod OG Playstation games. It's about optics vs. commercial potential vs. effort to punish. Sony (notice I'm not using Nintendo for an example lol) don't do anything unless it's more current/relevant, like the cease and desist they issued the gal developing Bloodborne Kart (which imho was unnecessary but what can ya do).

[@dsadgegdsg4740]

@@SoundFontGuy By definition, royalty-free sample libraries can be used in perpetuity as well. Tangentially, when developing Mario 64, Nintendo sidestepped the issue in some places by using audio samples from a library that Mario's then-voice actor Charles Martinet contributed to. In this way, he also voices Boo enemies and Bowser, and the Chain Chomp apparently uses a recording of Martinet's dog.

[@MegaTheman25]

Nintendo can't sue/copyrigbt strike the sounds used on the snes. Those sounds belong to whatever synthesizer/gear they own, not them. It's up to Roland, Korg, etc, if they want to sue for old ass sounds. It's like if you have your friends' password for their netflix account.

[@SoundFontGuy]

This right here. This is basically exactly right.

[@danerd8978]

David Wise took his from his Korg Wave Station. The older Arcade/Console Files are Waves such as Square, Triangle etc. Those aren't copyrighted.

[@Caesar_Online]

I'm so glad to finally see someone diving deeper into it, I remember asking this on a production subreddit and no one really had an answer at the time

[@Dappis]

Man if the legality of a soundfont is stopping you from creating art just give up on creating electronic music and craft your own guitar or something.

[@MattNL]

The importance of your work is monumental and will help many artists out there. This video and the incredible effort put into those soundfonts. Keep it up!!

[@SoundFontGuy]

I appreciate that very much, but I do want to make sure we don't oversell or overstate what it is that I'm doing. I'm just a dude with a hobby. I want to keep music, and retro game inspired music specifically, to be accessible to anyone who wants to get into it. I do appreciate that compliment, genuinely. I would just humbly ask - please please don't put me on a pedestal!

[@MattNL]

@@SoundFontGuy Understood. Keep being cool! (:

[@mechasartre3694]

Copyright is just enforced artificial scarcity.

[@NegativeReferral]

It's sad that the tide is turning the other way with the anti-AI crowd.

[@ashyunderscorealt95]

​@@NegativeReferralElaborate???

[@ThatSkiFreak]

Copyright being state enforced artificial scarcity has pretty transparently been the point from the beginning. The whole idea is to create a market for certain kinds of intellectual property, & many would then also say it's so that people creating said intellectual property can afford their cost of living. Personally I'd say we should just guarantee everyone's basic needs, restructure society to be more egalitarian, remove copy restrictions (while still requiring attribution/credit), and if we still want to fulfill the creating a market role, do something like giving everyone x dollars a month to donate to people creating would be copyrighted material (through some kind of voucher system rather than cash to to avoid fraud). Once created, data is not scarce, so we may as well give everyone access to it and fund the creation in some other way, maybe the way I suggested isn't the best but it's the least bad I've yet found. The whole ai business is kinda wacky because we've run into a situation where shady corporations get to ignore copyright while the rest of us can't, and it's making a lot of people's lives significantly worse through job replacement. We should understand that this is bad without digging in our heels trying to preserve unnecessary work or put copyright itself onto some kind of pedestal. Being against job replacement from ai is less of a grounded philosophical position and more of a utilitarian calculation that if we let this happen a lot of people's lives are going to become significantly worse. Anyway this is just part of a larger issue where labor innovations benefit primarily the people who own corporations & not everybody else, and that's the part we should be changing. Trying to undo technological innovations is rather impossible, when it comes to ai we might be able to prevent 'unethical' ai training data on the basis of existing laws, but we should remember that this isn't a special or one off occurrence, it's been happening for hundreds of years and will happen again the next time some innovation comes along unless we do something about it. @ashyunderscore I don't know if this is what the other commenter was referring to, but I have also noticed the anti ai crowd tending towards being extremely focused on preventing any small solo internet creator from using ai as it is somehow taking someone's job, but I'm not sure if they apply that same view of copyright more broadly. I think they basically see their situation getting worse, and copyright as a kind of shield they can use to protect themselves, which is probably true. Whether they see it as a thing that should continue to exist rather than doing other things, I don't know, I'm inclined to think they've mostly compartmentalized their copyright opinions as i said in a kind of utilitarian calculation where they want it to stop bad things and keep the few good things going. Whether this is what @negativereferral is talking about or not I don't know. tldr I don't think the anti ai crowd has a holistic enough perspective to really be relevant to 'should copyright exist as is', although maybe some do have thoughts on that. idk I don't think they'll turn the tide 'the other way' towards copyright being cool. Anyway I think it's fairly reasonable to say that as long as copyright exists, it should apply to corporations doing generative ai bullshit. I think copyright exists more as an economic reasons than artistic ones, and that shouldn't be very controversial, it goes against a lot of how art works (using the term art very broadly here). This video is a great example of how the rules get constantly fudged because you basically have to to make anything. I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of the videos on youtube are breaking copyright laws on some level or technicality, and then we're left to try to avoid stuff on contentid (the automated system) & hope the video doesn't get manually reviewed by a rights holder. idk its all bullshit, never applied consistently, makes creating stuff a pain in the ass, benefits mostly corporations already making a bunch of money like disney...

[@Fuchsia_tude]

Yes. In all IP, including patents, that is explicitly the purpose of these laws.

[@seanwieland9763]

@@Fuchsia_tudeImaginary Property

[@thomasaustin8477]

One of the biggest things to consider as well is that 15-30 years ago, developers weren't making sound banks with the intention of them being extracted and used in the future, they mostly served as a translation point from a demo/recorded work, to something that can be played by a video game console. The instrument manufacturers (at the time) would have no reason to suspect foul play, as it was effectively just a functional replacement to an audio recording of the part in the music. (great video though, covers a lot of legal nuances that i feel like a lot of people would have missed!!)

[@EpicTyphlosionTV]

I think this is a good example of how nobody had tried suing anyone because they're all guilty of stealing from themselves in some way. Even if Roland or Yamaha tried to sue someone for using their samples, you could make a good argument that they never went after hundreds of other musicians that've done the same. Hell, even Roland stole a sample from a D-Train song; the infamous "Ahh!" sound from their M-DC1.

[@xard64]

If video game companies would go after ripped sample instruments that would mean that the video game companies would claim to be owner of these sounds. By doing so that would open a whole can of worms and force the instrument creators to take action as the owners of these sounds as they are the original creators after all (some romplers might have samples from dubious origins though). A legal battle in this area could lead to a very messy situation where a game company acting in bad faith could threaten users of certain instruments because of the similarity of the sound alone. Going further with the idea: often samples are sold as royalty free licenses to the companies, which means that they can use them in products like defined by the license but do not own the sounds. Maybe the owners of the sound are the ones taking legal action in such case if they would be aware that their samples are used from ripped sources? When it comes to instruments and synthesis this whole thing becomes even muddier. Combining everything from above would explain the lack of legal action towards these kind of rips as the situation is likely much more complicated than it looks from outside.

[@SoundFontGuy]

You make a lot of really great points here. It's an extremely complicated and muddy issue. When I finalized the video, I realized that the big takeaway was just a big question mark.

[@AshnSilvercorp]

to be honest, I don't know if "sounds" should be copyrightable at this point. Waveforms can have complexity, but some of them turn into the parallel of what color is. Color cannot be owned. Yea, paint and how to mix it sure can, but actual digital colors are dang numbers. Not owned unique objects. At what point is the sound tangible? You can claim the actual soundfont is tangible property when put on a physical disk in a record. The sound itself is not tangible. It is an idea. (I'm not a lawyer, I'm a normal person tired of legal nonsense)

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@AshnSilvercorp Philosophically, what you're saying makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, the law doesn't see it that way. :(

[@xard64]

@@AshnSilvercorp While I agree on the idea of the points you presented I don't think the law works like that. For example Pizza Tower (the great independent take on Wario land games) background music did use Wario voice clips in one song originally. Apparently that was bit too much on the nose and they had to remove those samples. I'm not sure if Nintendo lawyers got involved or not, but there was enough legal heat for the authors of Pizza Tower to back down. Practically the law seems to work in following way: If you use very unique sounds which can be easily connected to the source and stand out from the crowd you are in danger. However if everybody does that then eventually (like how the Amen break is used in every break beat song ever) then the samples practically become public domain.

[@newtzrcool]

I once saw someone argue that it's really hard to get caught for infringement because depending on the instrument it's really hard to prove that you didn't go out of your way to sample the exact same source the copyright holder did. Not sure how well that hold up, though!

[@SoundFontGuy]

There is some truth to that, I think. Remember that "not getting caught" is not the same as "not breaking the law." lol

[@SuperSmashDolls]

In the US, copyright only protects creativity, which is why you cannot copyright phonebooks, AI art, or most relevantly, digital reproductions of existing artwork. (That last one is Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.) If you scan, say, a public domain artwork, that scan is immediately in the public domain, because you didn't add anything to it that would make it copyrightable. If you had scanned a copyrighted work that wasn't yours, then it'd still the property of the original owner, even if you happened to have been the one to scan it in. Likewise, if a videogame soundfont is itself just ripped from a synthesizer, Nintendo doesn't own it. Korg or Yamaha or whoever owns it. Of course, this runs into another problem of "welp, is it legal to use ROMplers"? I don't know if any of them had detailed license agreements that said if and when you can use their instrument samples, probably because nobody thought sampling was illegal back then. But if it were to come to it now, it'd probably wind up being something like "if you legally purchased the synthesizer you can use our samples in your music, but you can't put the samples into another synthesizer". Which ironically would mean that UNDERTALE (which has OGG files with fully mixed tracks) is less illegal (assuming toby bought the synthesizers eventually) than the games it stole samples from!

[@SianaGearz]

@@SuperSmashDolls When games have shipped DLS samples or Yamaha S-YXG on PC, they have actually done this with an explicit license from the sample holders. This is why Final Fantasy games on console used sampled Roland sounds, but PC came with Yamaha XG sounds, since Yamaha was happy enough to sell a license, in the process marketing its PC PCI add-in cards and hoping for more hardware sales. Roland in term did license some of the sounds to someone else, Microsoft, remember? I don't think it's an issue on console games, since the sounds are part of the software that is technically "copy protected"; and as such the sounds are used exactly as you expect them to be used, as they must be allowed to be used, as part of a music composition. That the sounds happen to be stored separately probably doesn't matter since they're not giving the buyer explicit access to those sounds.

[@seanwieland9763]

@@SoundFontGuy”Just because you did it doesn’t mean you’re guilty.”

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@SuperSmashDolls huh. I guess that means people selling Prophet VS wave packs for other digital-oscillator synths would be breaking Sequential's copyright? Or... Korg's, now? Or is it partially Yamaha still...

[@TheChuck59]

MUSIC!

[@SoundFontGuy]

WE LOVE THAT STUFF

[@Sedyon]

@@SoundFontGuy OF COURSE

[@PotassiumMan]

I randomly fell down the sf2 rabbithole the other day when I found the soundfont player while looking for an entire different plugin in FL Studio. Awesome channel for getting me up to speed!

[@olivia7782]

Bro even just learning what a soundfont actually is feels like I've been lied to my whole life Also love the AA Investigations music, man of taste I see

[@SoundFontGuy]

Honestly, it's not your fault. I spent many years with some pretty egregious misconceptions about soundfonts. You live and you learn.

[@pvanukoff]

That's why it's important to actually learn about a thing before assuming you know what that thing is. People spout BS all the time without actually knowing what they're talking about. It's not "lying" as in being intentionally dishonest, but the end result is the same.

[@tom-541]

It’s so so strange to me that sound fonts are just one container for multi samples that the wider production community left behind ages ago, but somehow got a foothold in indie gamedev specifically. I’m so glad you made this video because it makes it so clear - people have just sampled video game music and put it into a multi sample container not much different to kontakt or decent sampler - and in many cases it’s just as illegal as Wu Tang sampling superhero cartoons (but I wish both were legal). Toby Fox for example is almost certainly in breach of the law, if he was a POC - would he be hounded for royalties like so many hip hop artists were? I will say your transformative work argument doesn’t hold water - hip hop and dance music sampling artists did all sorts of changes and got hounded by copyright holders. However the widespread use argument does hold water - I heard the only day no one has been sued for drum break usage even if famous breaks like the amen, so make of that what you will 🤷‍♂️

[@MaladaptiveDaydreamerr]

If samples are allowed, soundfonts should also be allowed.

[@SoundFontGuy]

I agree! Though even samples are only allowed if you obtain a legal license to use them.

[@AndrewYac]

Samples are only allowed if you actually went your way to contact the original artists, the managers and the label and got the permission to use them though

[@trajectoryunown]

@@AndrewYac Depending on how much is used and whether or not it's been modified, samples should absolutely fall under the Fair Use doctrine because they tend to be transformative. Compositions, for example, should not be allowed to be held as intellectual property, _especially_ short sequences of notes. If someone plays a song someone else wrote, it's an entirely different sound. Even if a band plays their own compositions more than once, each version will sound different. As far as ripping sounds from games, which is a feat in and of itself, the re-encoding in new digital formats itself creates massive distance from the audio generated by sound chips of old consoles as far as the digital data is concerned. Utilizing these sounds to create entirely new compositions is absolutely transformative. The source of a sample is almost never why someone listens to a track. Toby Fox's compositions for Undertale are a perfect example of this. It's kind of like how in rap music where someone copies a flow or rhyme scheme. This is in no way theft or copying someone else's work. It's an act that honors those who they got it from and serves as a fun little Easter egg for those who can recognize it. It's an exceedingly rare instance where _any_ artist's work isn't derivative of something that came before.

[@AndrewYac]

@@trajectoryunown honestly I agree, it’s just that legally you still have to go out your way to contact everyone involved in the song your sample comes from since you can get sued by the family of a defunct musician just because you sampled a second of their song to transform it

[@mBluett]

@@trajectoryunown It's copying a lot more than a "flow or rhyme scheme" Compositions are the same as writing. You can recite someone else's essay, and it has a different sound due to your voice and inflections, but that isn't transformative enough to mean the writer shouldn't be credited and compensated. Of course this all still depends on the "percentage used" rule, so lifting short sequences of notes as a homage should be fine in theory.

[@Rafix]

very very awesome video my friend, thank you! :D

[@SianaGearz]

A generic term that covers soundfonts is sound bank or sample bank; though of course this can describe a set of sounds with or without control information which determines the mapping of these sounds to MIDI events, and of course both games contain something like such a mapping (often compiled into the sequence music data instead of stored along with the samples) and Creative's SF2 format contains such mapping and control information. Arguably games do not break the terms of use of the original instruments and aren't in violation of copyright from music instrument companies, since they use the sounds as intended, as a part of a music composition. Without advanced special means, you cannot extract the sounds from a game any more than from a recording, this is not something these developers had to count on that would make them liable, and when you do extract the sounds from storage, you're already technically so deep in violation territory as to shield the publisher. Other times the sounds are distributed in a format where they're trivially available, such as some games coming with DLS banks on PC or with an installable synthesizer that also works outside the game, and in all these particular cases that i'm aware of concerning major publishers, these game publishers have a special license from the company that owns the samples, so they're directly paying for the right to distribute them, but you do not necessarily inherit usage rights.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Really excellent points here. Thank you for this.

[@m128jg]

Taking the time to learn about potential legal issues is just as important as coding for game devs. I won't lie and change my answer from the original video: 0/3 guesses for me.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thanks for coming back a second time. Learning about potential legal issues is just as important for youtube video essays, it turns out.

[@Sedyon]

The first question challenged me at first because MK64's drum samples are used in lots of other games, including Mother 3 😂

[@SeleDreamsPerso]

That's why I bought an Edirol SD-90 as a lot of soundfonts of japanese games are derived of it

[@tuc5987]

Haven't seen the removed version of the video, but this here is EXCELLENT. Good overview, great info, love it!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you very much!

[@Azeria]

as with most copyright issues, the legality barely matters if they don’t sue you, you’re gonna be completely fine; and if they do, you’re probably ruined either way

[@SoundFontGuy]

The legality matters in the sense that those sounds are recognizable and iconic, so using them can potentially be like painting a target on your back. But it's up to the individual to determine if the risk is worth it, I suppose.

[@N3Selina]

i am completely unsure. when it comes to games that might be commercial, i would avoid using soundfonts. make your own samples in any way you can - or if you want the SNES sound i would recommend using royalty free samples and just downsample them. i think that's how it works. 8-bit instrumentation might be the easiest solution but that's just my 2 unprofessional cents about this

[@SoundFontGuy]

I honestly think you're right. I'm currently working on a full soundfont inspired by SNES. It'll be 100% free to use, and free of copyright, so if you want that SNES sound without having to worry about breaking copyright, or spending money, or having to process any samples yourself, you'll be able to do just that.

[@N3Selina]

@@SoundFontGuy i just clicked on your ko-fi and noticed~ i am really glad that people like you exist~ sometimes i use soundfonts when it comes to non-commercial music, though i most often use FamiTracker to make my music. i think you can even use OpenMPT to make your own Waveforms. but this is really nice to know~ i might check your page later~ happy i found this video~

[@Smudgeurfudgemuffin]

I have been wondering about this and couldn't get a straight answer from Google, tysm!

[@SoundFontGuy]

You're welcome, I hope it helped!

[@RetroGamingMusicCom]

Thanks for a great video! Makes me wanna dive into soundfonts more!

[@redmage5251]

copyright is the antithesis of art and belongs in the distant past

[@nekomaster1000]

Really fascinating video, also awesome of you to make free soundfonts!!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you very much!

[@DillyzThe1]

yeah, i questioned the real conclusion of the original video too, but didn't say anything. you definitely need to check with your manufacturer to see if it's ok to bundle sounds individually, such as a soundfont or in-game sequencer, rather than in a larger audio file containing a full musical track. the 100% safe method of utilizing these sounds is literally just owning the original instruments (check VGM communities out), which can be expensive or a hassle (vsts like omnisphere being $500, sample cds being old and weird, etc). i personally own a few source instruments i liked hearing in splatoon. also i never commented my score on the original video, but it was 1/3

[@SoundFontGuy]

Yeah, as much as it hurts to lose the views and and engagement on something I worked hard on, I just had to fix it.

[@nanika3446]

very proud of myself for guessing all 3 soundfonts right! Thats a very fun mini game to put in your vid!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Great work!! You nailed it! Thank you for watching!!

[@Kangsteri]

Rules of the art is a paradox. Art doesn't work in commercial law. Selling records and streams do. Some people think collage picture or parody is art, some don't. It has nothing to do with law and rules. I personally believe in riddims, let the best man win. Banning others from competition doesn't make you better.

[@profbx5258]

Ok, so, I work for a music equipment manufacturer. As in, hardware. As in, on the level of the ones you mention. This video actually irritates me on a base level as it spreads FUD. When you are speaking about the music instrument, any samples used may be owned by the manufacturer, but only insofar as you can’t clone a current instrument and pass it off as the real thing. Legally, if there were any action taken, then it would basically set precedent that you cannot play an instrument you own for on your own music. The romplers that are using the sounds from hardware that companies like ours made, and they have their own license terms which typically fall under the same parameters. Lawsuits would effectively pause all future sales potential and have a chilling effect, so they won’t happen. The only thing that you would legally need to worry about is the composition, which would fall under very established sampling and music publishing laws. The oddball one here, sample CD’s/packs. They come with a license, but if you are sued it will be because you reproduced the work of a person playing the sample, vs the instrument that they used. And that is if they even exist as a company anymore, and anyone is checking for reproduction. I don’t understand why videos like this exist when you could pretty easily just reach out to manufacturers to ask.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Hi, I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to share your insights, especially given your experience in the industry. It’s invaluable to hear from someone with firsthand knowledge. I apologize if my video gave the wrong impression-my goal was not to spread fear or misinformation but to explore the nuances of an area that I believe can be misunderstood. The main legal concern I wanted to highlight is not about getting sued for using instruments in your music, but specifically about using samples that are *unauthorized* copies from romplers. These soundfonts are often created by directly copying samples from hardware or software romplers without permission, which is where the potential issue lies. For example, the Roland Cloud EULA (SUA) states: 6. Restrictions. In addition to the restrictions and obligations in the Terms of Service, you may not: a. Copy, sell, rent, lease, sublicense, transfer, distribute, display, or otherwise transfer the Roland Cloud Service, or any component or portion of the Roland Cloud Service, without the express prior written consent of Roland, provided that this restriction does not apply to the creation of musical works using the Roland Cloud Service or Product Content or the performance of musical works using the Roland Cloud Service or Product Content; b. Modify or create derivative works of the Roland Cloud Service (your creative musical works that are created by using the Roland Cloud Service are not derivative works); or c. Use the Roland Cloud Service to create sounds or other content for any synthesizer, virtual instrument, sample library, sample-based product, musical instrument, music or sound effects created by computers or machines, or any competitive product or service, without the express prior written consent of Roland. As you can see, the issue isn't about using these sounds in your music but about the unauthorized copying of those sounds. Using a video game soundfont often means using an unauthorized copy, which could be problematic. I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on this topic, especially if you think there’s a way to present the information more accurately or fairly. Thanks again for your thoughtful comment. Discussions like these are beneficial for everyone.

[@omegax363]

Are Video Game SoundFonts Legal? Toby Fox: YES

[@CBXweb]

If the Neptunes could get away with ripping off 80s R&B up until Blurred Lines, I think I'll be fine

[@SoundFontGuy]

😬

[@PendelSteven]

4:19 Actually, they are copyright protected in this way: You may not sell the sounds - in fact, I think it fully states: and say you made them But of course you are absolutely in your right to use these sounds as a musician. As with every musical instrument. From your digital drum set to the supplied samples with your DAW. And the thousands of sample packs you can still biuy online!

[@ericaohanrahan5528]

Oh that's easy! 3/3! Yeah for-a me!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Wahoo!

[@NeZversSounds]

6:12 with that logic folly recording is infringing copyrights. A tool manufacturer can't own copyright to a sound that's made with a tool. Casio synth can generate a sound, it owns the data that generates the sound, but not the outcome I sampled. Same for Gibson/Fender/etc guitars or Makita drill. Developer owns copyright to the tool and its functionality. If a sample is ripped straight out of device memory, THAT could be protected by copyright. Since that can be compared with audio sample values and phase cancelation.

[@SoundFontGuy]

When discussing soundfonts, especially those derived from video games, it’s important to understand the legal aspects surrounding them. A soundfont typically consists of recordings of individual sounds or instruments. These recordings are protected by copyright law. This means that while you can use licensed sound libraries or romplers in your music, the license generally covers your right to use those sounds for creating music, not for redistributing the sounds themselves. Ripping soundfonts from video games and distributing them falls under the unauthorized redistribution of someone else’s recordings, which can be a violation of copyright law. Even though the sounds in a game might be based on commercially available libraries or custom-made sounds, once they are recorded and used in the game, they are typically protected by the game developer’s or publisher’s rights. For those interested in exploring this further, reviewing the End User License Agreements (EULAs) of companies like Roland can provide more clarity on how these rights are often structured. Understanding these legal and ethical considerations helps ensure that we respect the work of others while creating our own.

[@IkaraPopsicle]

You know its strange when I guessed "sc88pro" instead of "mario kart 64" Its like I forgot that I played and watched video games lmao

[@SoundFontGuy]

Haha I mean it's not like you're wrong?

[@IkaraPopsicle]

@@SoundFontGuy yea @_@ Tbf its all because of the drums REALLY REALLY Great video thow, but I am now thinking if my work infringes heavy on copyright lmaoaoa

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@IkaraPopsicle Thanks! I think we're all feeling that a bit rn T-T

[@Iriscal]

Funnily enough, the only one I got right on your pop quiz was #3

[@Spaceroast]

3/3! The first two are all-time favorites and were immediately recognizable, and I admit the third was a semi-blind guess. Anyway, thanks for the video! Regarding legality, you've come to the same conclusions I have, but if nothing else, I hope millions of people will see this and nobody will ever misuse the word "soundfont" ever again.

[@repairerofreputationsmusic]

The samples in Roland Romplers are not copyright protected, otherwise you wouldn't be able to use the instruments to record music.

[@SoundFontGuy]

I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. I encourage you to visit Roland's website and read the EULA

[@thedeadhp]

Subscribed! Your style reminds me of GST! I love it! Great content.

[@davidschwartzguitar]

I ran afoul of Nintendo about 10 years ago when I made a massive SNES soundfont pack for Omnisphere. That experience was certainly a crash course in copyright law!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Yikes... I'd love to hear more about that!

[@universalvibe72]

Bit crushing is not what is done to save space 🙈

[@SoundFontGuy]

It was an honest mistake, I said bitcrush but meant sample reduction 🤦

[@227]

A music quiz to push people to engage with the video is a fun way of satisfying the algorithm. I legit only got the Castlevania one, which is somehow the only game of the three I haven't personally played. Thought the first one was SMRPG and the second one was FF6 because there's obviously some overlap between the instrumentation in those games. Anyway, the rule seems to be "if you're going to steal, be interesting and popular enough that no one dares to make an issue of it." Which seems to be the rule for a lot of things these days, honestly.

[@SoundFontGuy]

I would honestly give you credit for that simply due to the overlap. If you guessed within the franchise, that's worth at least half a point each. And yeah you're right, that does seem to be the rule.

[@connordarvall8482]

11:26 Now Mischief Markers! THAT's an unmistakable soundfont.

[@PearFinch]

The random pop quiz was amazing, did NOT expect that at all! I feel disappointed, I missed all three… 0/3

[@badte3f]

I’m furious about the ad placement.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Hey thanks for pointing that out. Could you tell me what's wrong with it? I'd like to fix it so that it's not disruptive for others going forward.

[@badte3f]

It’s tucked between two concepts too related for the interruption, just imo.

[@leissMusic]

2/3, but that was because I didn't understand if I was supposed to guess the original soundsource/ROMpler or the game itself, lol. Great video!

[@SoundFontGuy]

I would have accepted either one! Haha Thank you!

[@kritorys514]

Your quiz made me feel good about myself. I've never played a Mario game past SNES era, no FFs, and no Castlevania, but I could tell #1 was N64 era Mario franchise and #3 was almost certainly some Castlevania due to a baroque style using harpsichord. #2 I only got as far as "Japan."

[@SoundFontGuy]

Haha, nailed it!

[@Osc-Mod]

Personally I do believe legally that ripping them from the game itself would be in violation of copyright... though if you have a roland SC-55 or a roland JV or like you said the ownership of the original sample CD Recreating the sound founts would be fine.

[@VelStreaming]

I never played any of the games in the pop quiz section, but hella happy I got each one correct by guessing the right franchise

[@amigalemming]

Always remember that all this copyright law stuff just exists to protect a certain business model that some companies chose for selling data a century ago. It is their choice to use that business model, there are many others and new ones, and we should always ask how much effort should we as a society put into protecting their business model and how many human rights we accept to be restricted when enforcing copyright laws. Also please remember that copyright law protects mostly dead creators, because copyright laws apply until 70 years after the death of a creator. A creator can seldom benefit from his royalties for 70 years within his lifetime.

[@MaoRatto]

When it comes to soundfonts, shouldn't be copyrightable at all. What's the point if on average the song isn't stolen, but the font will overlap so much due to 7 notes per a basic scale, not accounting for just overtime it will change.

[@Klaviar11]

Contemporary copyright, especially in the USA is a very messed up concept that is a golden mine for greedy and mean individuals (who try even to forbid the distribution of so-called orphan works no one is holding copyright of). The scale of Internet just made these things even more cursed and annoying. Like a contradiction to creativity, free expression and just common sense. Some albums of 90's, if they are released today, would be auto-banned by KZbin instantly (think of big-beat). I can only imagine what legal hell the gamedev could be

[@system64_MC]

Hi! This is an interesting video! I still have a question. What if I sample a synthesizer such as an FM Synth for exemple? And what about sampling presets? My question is also about VSTs.

[@SoundFontGuy]

This is a good question! Let's keep in mind that I'm not a legal professional, but I will share some perspective. The copyright issue is specifically with pre-recorded samples (even ones that are just one note). If you sample an FM synthesizer, that's very different because you're not copying someone else's recording of a single note, you're recording your OWN single note. So since you're the one recording the note, the copyright most likely belongs to you. Recording VSTs can be tricky. Anything that uses samples, those samples belong to someone. You can use the samples to make music, but you can't copy or distribute those samples without permission.

[@judenihal]

In 2005 I actually invented my own musical instrument

[@AcidRP]

Really enjoyed those quizzes 2/3 for me

[@Made_In_Heaven88]

Most instruments are distinct from one another, Probably nowhere else are you going to have possession of expensive world like instruments such as an Erhu or udu drum But using a unique sound not heard anywhere else, like Malon's singing voice from Zelda, could land you in real hot water

[@SoundFontGuy]

You make a good point here. It's also worth mentioning that copyrighted sounds are very easy to recognize. For example, basically every classic JRPG uses a lot of the same sounds from the same romplers.

[@hydra4370]

Nintendo ran over my mailbox because i illegally used a kirby mass attack soundfont

[@SoundFontGuy]

I TRIED TO WARN YOU!

[@jukeboxfandango]

1:35 - I believe the confusion with the word MIDI stems from the old .midi music files people would make that were essentially popular songs sequenced and rendered down to 8bit so they could be put on geocities websites...or something like that I'm no programmer. But I think people who don't know any better couldn't ever differentiate what those files were versus an Aphex Twin song and anything remotely "beep boop" sounding is just midi to them

[@ArtFluids]

I'm 100% certain there have been times that Roland/Spectrasonics/Eric Persing sued other companies because the other companies used samples in *their* sample-based instruments (like Kontakt, UVI VSTis etc). So there are examples of lawsuits over this sort of thing, but mainly when the sounds from one rompler have been used in another. Spectrasonics was founded by Eric Persing who made a LOT of Roland's classic rompler sounds. And, for example, classic D-50 sounds like the pizzacato find their way into various sample libraries (like the Amiga ST-XX library), and those find their way into other plugins etc. And Eric Persing has been pretty outspoken that he's not cool with it at all. So, he's a good example of someone who does care about it. I think Eric Persing sued the musician BT for making songs that basically just used Spectrasonics sounds with hardly any transformation etc. You also see a lot of Fairlight CMI samples and EMU Emulator samples get used in things... I'm pretty sure a lot of early EMU Emulator sample floppies were just Fairlight CMI sounds. So this problem has basically been happening since the early 80's once sample based instruments appeared.

[@SoundFontGuy]

BT is actually responsible for a lot of the ambient pad sounds that you hear in early DnB as well is games like Silent Hill. It's been said that a lot of those pad sounds are "borrowed" from Distorted Reality. Interestingly, BT's "twisted textures" series with EastWest has a lot of peculiar similarities to what can be found in Distorted Reality 1 and 2. Thanks for your comment, you highlighted a very important point.

[@ArtFluids]

@@SoundFontGuy I didn't know about BT's involvement with sound creation... mainly I think about his obsession with timing and how he thinks MIDI is sloppy and unreliable. BT and Vince Clarke are obsessed with how much more precise and jitter-free CV/Gate is compared to MIDI. In a DAW this is not an issue. But using MIDI to control a hardware synthesizer/rompler is a mess. The serial nature of the format causes all sorts of timing issues and slop. For example, a chord sent over MIDI will send each of the notes in series; They don't all begin at once. It just happens fast enough for the chord to be heard. But there is slop. And if you multiply that by the 16 channels of MIDI with a lot of notes... you get really sloppy timing. With CV/Gate the notes are triggered at the speed of electricity (nearly lightspeed). And so, as long as the sequencer has correct timing, CV/Gate will be bang-on timing wise. If you wanted to approach this sort of precision with MIDI you'd have to limit yourself to ONE channel and monophonic notes only. Anyway... I'm rambling about this. If this subject interests you at all... look into Vince Clarke's obsession with the Roland MC-4 (a CV/Gate sequencer from 1981) and people's obsession with the Sequentix Cirklon etc.

[@FelOld]

About the Quiz. 1: I was thinking it was Mario 64 2: I thought "Final Fantasy", but I was divided between 7 or 9. 3: I guessed correctly that was SOTN, the harpsichord and the orch with a ton of reverb was a big clue. But also, the music sounds like a variation of Dracula's Castle theme.

[@NobodyYouKnow01]

1.5/3 I count half because the second one was a lucky guess. I’ve never actually played any of these games, but I’m most familiar with Mario Kart soundtracks.

[@Isaac_Garcia_Peveri]

Everyone can use those sounds making music or not? Which is the sense to boy a Korg or Roland keyiboard if you can't use the sounds?

[@SoundFontGuy]

You can use the sounds in your music, but only if you own the synth. If you download a Soundfont ripped from a game, that's an illegal copy.

[@AshnSilvercorp]

Ok, I thought this was going to be a completely doomer take. It verymuch is, but you saying at the end you are striving to work on open made sounds? That is fantastic. Seriously, way to be the change you want to see in the world. Keep going!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Ugh you're right. I really didn't intend for it to be so doomer. The original idea for the video was supposed to be just to explore the concept, but every new bit of info I learned just made it worse and worse. And thanks for saying that. Video game soundfonts were an invaluable tool for me coming into my own as a composer, and now that the legal conversation has been getting louder, it feels like making completely free and open virtual instruments is potentially the best way I can give back to the composing community, and maybe even provide tools to the next generation of composers who don't have the money to buy all of these fancy plugins and what have you. Thanks for cheering me on, it really helps! This comment section is a bit stressful.

[@Bloor005]

I used to make soundfonts way back in the day. Not from games but my own recordings of various acoustic instruments and sytnhesizers I'd acquired. I wasnt that great at using the (mostly freeware) tools to assemble the sounds, and my computer was limited by that point (despite being custom built for audio/studio purposes). It was a great way to get polyphony from a single sound like a 303 or a stylophone.

[@SoundFontGuy]

That's awesome, do you still have them lying around anywhere? I bet some people would love to use them.

[@Bloor005]

@@SoundFontGuy Possibly.. I wouldnt begin to know where they're stored though tbh. Its been 20+ years.

[@bf0189]

Wonderful video I got FFIX only but if i had listened more I could have gotten more on the pop quiz. Jamaica had no enforceable no copyright in the 70s according to my music teacher which spawned so much creativity in their music that lead to the style of Dub. For those that don't know dub is basically the first style of music that really used studio technology as an instrument full on. Adding so many effects like echoes and cranking up the bass. Since producers were able to basically freely remix anything they got hella creative. Copyright is reactionsry and serves little purpose other than making execs more money. It needs to be radically reformed. Imagine what we could do if copyright wasn't so strict with the technology we have today.

[@Rusli1659LPSoldier]

8:18 sonic but i immediately recognized the drums sounds at the beginning. 8:57 that bass is catchy. sounds like a pokemon. 9:30 sounds like straight out of Mario and Luigi vibes when you're almost there until the final boss.

[@theaddictofgaming9174]

I got the quiz kinda right. Number 1 I said Mario Party Number 2 I said FFVII Number 3, I got completely right 1/3, but kinda close

[@stevenshockley4237]

This dude is a hero.

[@SoundFontGuy]

no u

[@Spin_Music]

My personal answer is yes. But those like me, who also makes their samples for stuff like C700 are very based :)

[@OldBloxycube]

0/0. Of course. I thank to you to actually questioning about the legality. Of Course, the synthesizer or sample devices won't sue you for sounds, which you can't copyright a sound (or what ever Adam Needly said in that one video). Most of the Sample-CD's do have like license agreement or such how these sounds or loops should be used. Thank you for re-uploading it and correcting it!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Hey, thanks for your comment! I just want to clarify - all pre-recoreded samples, even those found in synthesizers, are copyrighted. The license agreements have very specific and strict terms. Many of the samples found in sample CD's are actually performances, as such they are copyrighted as well and must be - at minimum - credited. It's always important to read the license agreement very carefully before using the sounds!

[@OldBloxycube]

@@SoundFontGuy Thank you for the correction!

[@darkzeroprojects4245]

I was thinking to use Soundfont stuff to make music audio like older games in Godot and somehow do Adaptive audio, but oh well.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Use mine! 100% free! ko-fi.com/soundfontguy/shop

[@Phil-D83]

Most people ignore it, but yeah

[@kaasiand]

I feel like the widespread use of the word soundfont isn't because people are misunderstanding/misappropriating the brand name, but because... it's such a stupidly simple and to-the-point name that genuinely anyone could've come up with it. If a font (loosely speaking) is just a collection of glyphs that together form one cohesive thing, then a "sound font", in a general sense, would just be the audio equivalent of the exact same thing, with sounds instead of glyphs. Not everyone has heard of soundbanks, but everyone knows what a font is, so everyone understands intuitively what is meant by a sound font. I think the brand name is what should've been different and less general, similar to how TrueType and OpenType are font formats but whose names cannot be misconstrued as anything general

[@SoundFontGuy]

I think you're exactly right 👍🏻

[@The-Anathema]

I got MK64 but since I never played FF9 or SoTN I truthfully didn't get them, figured the second was a final fantasy but couldn't guess which one and the third one was a complete tossup.

[@Clodd1]

So, if I buy a synthesizer, I don't have any rights over the music I made with it?

[@SoundFontGuy]

You absolutely have the rights to the music if you bought the synthesizer!

[@Clodd1]

@@SoundFontGuy Let's say you bought the same synth a musician used to make a song for a game, inevitably, some instrument will sound the same. In that case, who has the rights?

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@Clodd1 That's a really good question. It all comes down to the performance and/or recording of the music. Thousands of people have used the same synths in their music. You're allowed to use the same synth, you just have to either own the synth, or own a license to use the software version of it. So if it's your performance or your recording, you own the rights. Even if you used the same synth. But you must either have access to the physical synth, or have the license to use the software. If you don't have one of those two things, then you are technically breaking copyright law. However even if you use the sounds illegally, and you somehow have such horrible misfortune as to get caught doing so, and proven in a court of law - your recording of your performance would most likely still belong to you, you just wouldn't be allowed to make any money from it.

[@bobisadrummer]

I guessed SM64, SM:RPG, SotN, after getting the first two wrong, I didn't think my third guess was right, but it was the only thing I knew that used that Strings/Harpsicord sound combo.

[@SoundFontGuy]

You deserve partial credit for those other two guesses. 2.5/3

[@cliftonchurch6039]

I'm the kind of guy who took music theory in high school, so I do have a musically inclined ear. I got 2/3: The first with the third added instrument, I never had the attention span to play a Final Fantasy game (sorry, no shame, it's a solid series), and the third I nailed despite never personally playing the game simply because it so popular overall.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Nicely done!

[@rudidellama3718]

Nice vid, seems like a big coincidence that i was just searching the topic; want to make a game and use PC-98 soundfont as a basis for the OST, I guess still is a very gray area, but given that the PC-98 is dead for more than 20 years I find very hard have any problem

[@thaddeuskent8185]

Also, 2/3. Got the last two.

[@SoundFontGuy]

That's pretty impressive. When I first uploaded it, it seemed like people were struggling with the last one in particular!

[@thaddeuskent8185]

@SoundFontGuy It seemed like the snare and the melody are what helped me. 😎

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@thaddeuskent8185 That makes sense! This time around I tried to write music that fit the games, so it seems like maybe that worked!

[@thaddeuskent8185]

@@SoundFontGuy definitely.

[@squeakyfoxx]

great and mostly correct video, but I did want to point something out about the copyright laws about romplers. the licenses for romplers state that any *reproduction* of the raw waveforms are against their terms of service. sampling it, using the patches in original music, etc. is all within licensing jurasdiction. you *can* however gain an explicit license from Roland, EMU(not anymore, but you used to), Korg, Yamaha, etc. to reproduce the original waveforms, or a set of them.(such as making a virtual instrument from the ripped ROMs and waveforms). both Microsoft and Apple have done this, which is why the famous GM.DLS found both in windows by default, and quicktime's midi player uses samples from the Roland SC-55, SC-88 pro, etc. Sample CDs are different. most sample CDs have a strict license where you can use them in original songs, but can't distribute them in its rawest form, even if it's just sampled and stored in memory somewhere in a game console. that's where transformative use comes into play, which is what you mentioned, and is perfectly fine. very important distinction, but it's this distinction that is important to note. that's all. otherwise everything in the video was more or less on point. I'm impressed

[@SoundFontGuy]

I love this comment. Thanks for the kind words, and I would love to clear up the confusion I likely caused by being unclear. You are absolutely right that the licenses refer specifically to reproduction. That was exactly what I was intending to highlight, but I failed to specify clearly. Essentially, many video game SoundFonts (i.e. SoundFonts that are ripped from game data to be made usable by anyone) are illegal, unauthorized, unlicensed reproductions or copies of those samples. Of course you can use those sounds if you own the rompler, or otherwise have a license to use it, but if not, then you're using them without a license, and that is where the copyright concern lies. Thanks again!

[@KarlSturmgewher]

using CPs3 soundfonts is fine, so CPS3 will never be forgotten.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Praise be to CPS3! Also CPS1 and CPS2 are still quite good!

[@KarlSturmgewher]

@@SoundFontGuy The soundfont yet to be used in VGmusic remixes is Namco System 2. There's also Namco's KnuckleHeads, Mach Breakers, Tekken 3.

[@girhen]

1/3 - Mario Kart, I thought it sounded like a Final Fantasy but couldn't pick it out (and locked in on N64 forgetting that the quiz encompassed many consoles), and thought the last was FF7 (sounded like One Winged Angel to start and other songs with the rest). Haven't finished FF9 and never played Symphony of the Night.

[@kairon156]

1.5/3 I got Castelvenia 100% but for FF9 I knew I knew it but the tune sounded very different than what I remember. I had no idea of the Mario Kart one. There was a photographer who was going to be fined for using her own pictures because a company said it was theirs and started charging everyone who used those pictures. I would not be surprised if this happened to people for their own music as well. Heck I've seen Rain be copyright striked before. Natural outdoor rain.

[@costelinha1867]

Honestly, this thing sounds like such a massive grey area, that I wonder if it's even practical for any company to try to enforce it, sure I bet some company would be more than willing to target people for using soundfonts ripped from their material, but when A HUGE PORTION OF THE GAME INDUSTRY IS LITERALLY BUILT ON SOUNDFONTS THAT ARE TECHNICALLY INFRINGING COPYRIGHT, SPECIALLY INDIE GAMES LIKE UNDERTALE, is it even worth it? Specially when this have been happening not recently, but for decades?

[@SoundFontGuy]

You're asking the right questions.

[@costelinha1867]

@@SoundFontGuy Someone has to ask them. Specially with how much of a complicated mess copyright law is.

[@simpson6700]

1/3 i almost guessed wrong until you told us the last one didn't use soundfonts/sequenced music. i knew it was castlevania.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Nice work, that's a slippery one!

[@redlight3932]

cool video i like your vibe and topic

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thanks!

[@kuyakim20]

The fact I guessed correctly all of the 3 items on Pop Quiz. 😭😭😭😭

[@ignazachenbach5406]

During the pop quiz I got _Mario Kart 64_ as soon as I heard the first snare hit lol Although I didn't get _Final Fantasy IX_ since I've never played any of them

[@intevolver]

FFIX that's a Hell Yeah from me

[@5ucur]

Where can one find these 100% free to use and open soundfonts created by you? I checked description and About section, hoping there'd be a link in one of those. Also I loved the video.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you! I'm working on setting up a ko-fi.com shop section (everything $0.00), but for now you can get them from my google drive - drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1p0HL8GLqgjqDTZnMlYGo8xT0jBcjkrLO

[@5ucur]

@@SoundFontGuy Thanks!! I got inspired by your videos, though I'm nowhere near as talented or knowledgeable musically. But someone shared a video or two in a Discord server (an OoT/Silent Hill thing I think) and I was like, "huh i wanna try this". Now the idea of having a soundfont or few that were specifically made (as opposed to ripped from a game), and on top of that are 100% free - I couldn't not ask! Thanks again, and keep on being awesome!

[@AndrewYac]

Tbh I feel like it could be an interesting idea to send this video to a KZbin Lawyer to see their take on it, as you can easily be fined for copyright infringement for dumb stuff like “groove” like in Pharrell Williams - Blurred Lines vs. Martin Gaye - Got To Give It Up, so clearly, the LINE where it becomes stealing instead of transformative work is BLURRED (laugh please), even though being fined for using a sound font for your own melodies is very unlikely because games don’t own the sounds per se, but instead the synth and romplers manufacturers do, but some romplers also may have “borrowed” those sounds from other sources without credit, so getting sued for that could lead to a chaotic situation 1/3 I’m too young to have played any of those games

[@SoundFontGuy]

Haha..ha...ha.... 1/3 isn't bad, I'll do some more recent stuff next time!

[@ckatheman]

Blurred Lines is an extreme outlier case that got in front of the wrong judges who had zero knowledge of music and were thus easily swayed by bogus arguments and probably didn’t like the lyrics or Robin Thickes antics at the time. Other cases since have had proper favorable rulings (Ed Sheeran for example). Musically, Blurred Lines isn’t even remotely similar to the Gaye cut, in all the ways that copyright is granted (lyrics, melody). If it weren’t for style and groove we wouldn’t have genres at all and every rock band since Buddy Holly would have been sued out of existence. Broken system.

[@AndrewYac]

@@ckatheman exactly, being sued for something as simple as a vaguely similar bass line and drums is plain dumb and dangerous, so if you can get sued for something as dumb as that, what can you expect next? Which is why you should really be cautious when playing with soundfonts even though they’re not that ethically wrong

[@TheSteveTheDragon]

I think it's safe to say just stay away from anything owned by the big game companies like nintendo, capcom, konami, etc.

[@SoundFontGuy]

That's probably best practice, yeah. Though it is probably more likely that they don't own these sounds, the manufacturers do. Even so, your comment still stands.

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

My personal answer is: fuck copyright, fuck these cancerous corporations, pirate everything and do whatever the fuck you want.

[@SoundFontGuy]

I can't endorse this, but I totally understand the sentiment haha

[@darkzeroprojects4245]

Im not 100% on the fuck copyright bit, am for the rest though. (It needs severe reform and touchup since honestly, it's solid, but also got so many holes that can be exploited like every other legislation or system.)

[@redmage5251]

@@darkzeroprojects4245 it is not solid. copyright exists purely to screw over creators in favor of big corporations