EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

> I'm not an expert on the licensing laws but I thought the bottom line
> was that a library could only be used once at a time, i.e. not on
> multiple machines at the same time so even legal use of a library gives
> the big studios advantages over us sole operators. Their libraries
> could still potentially be used by several people over a 24 hour
> period, completely legally.
This is a very interesting point actually and I am reminded of car hire
companies.

RentaHertz can buy one Ford Focus and hire it out to as many customers as
they want within a 24-hour period... or they can hire it out to one customer
one day and another the next. This is perfectly legitimate and (personally)
*I* think this is legitimate use of sound library - if a studio invests in
sound library, it becomes an asset that they can use and exploit (to maybe
differentiate their service from a rival competitor?). *I* would have no
problem with a studio using any sound library of mine that they had bought
from me in this way. After all, if the band of the day wanted a Lexicon
reverb on their recording, I wouldn't expect the band to buy a Lexicon to
gain access to that particular reverb sound - they booked the studio BECAUSE
it had a Lexicon reverb. Similarly my library.

Where the whole area becomes tricky is in a facility that maybe has two (or
more) studios - I think in this case, that facility should buy a copy of the
library for each of the studios they have and *not* make copies of the one
purchase to distribute amongst the other studios they have.

But this is where the analogy between library and car hire falls down - you
can't just run off a perfect clone copy of a Ford Focus to use as part of
your car rental service.... you *HAVE* to buy another Focus. And this is the
problem with any s/w based product ... it's all too easy (and cheap) to make
perfect clone copies of s/w these days - if the facility is not built into
the computer's OS, there's some freebie out there that will do the job.

And therein lies the problem.


Best regards,


Steve
http://www.hollowsun.com