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===DOCUMENT IS HERE: (link is only visible to registered users)
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After a few months of sampling and much Youtube and forum digging, here is a document covering my understanding of everything you can and can't upload to Audiotool. The answers aren't something simple that can be fully explored in a few paragraphs.
This isn't a quick guide, because there is a lot of context and examples I have to provide so that you all can understand what to sample.
But I know people are impatient so here is the TLDR:
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This is OK:
- Recording a hardware analog synthesizer, using sounds you've designed yourself.
- Recording a VST using sounds you've designed yourself* ( provided there is a licence agreement that specifically says it's okay to make share, and reproduce samples with. (Important)
- Using Audiotool synths to make sounds, cause Audiotool is cool.
- Live recordings made with a sound recorder like a Zoom, or any recordings you make of yourself with a microphone, like vocals, foley sounds, found sounds and ambiances.
- Live recordings made by yourself of you performing on real life instruments such as Guitars, Pianos, or Acoustic drums.
- Coding/Building your own damn synths "Look Mum No Computer" style, because fuck the corporate machine.
- Extreme sound design that renders the original source meaningless.* ( A gray Area )
This is not OK:
- Any sample, modified or not that is Royalty Free, Creative Commons, Public domain, or anything otherwise that says free.
- Multisampling, or one shot recording of any kind of preset modified or not, or sound library from a synthesizer.
- Recording licensed VSTS that say you can't use them to sample with. (This is many commercial VSTS)
- Taking a sample and modifying it in any way, in any amount, such as adding filter or reverb, or combining samples together, or creating a montage etc.
- Recording any synthesizer or programs or drum machines that are sample based or operate off of samples.
- Using licensed software such as certain text to speech, or generative music programs, vocaloid etc. Unless you can find a licence that says you can.
- Really obvious stuff like Commercial Sample Packs, Movies, Torrents, Youtube, Acapellas, Sampled Beats or Instrumentals etc.
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If after reading my full document and this post you still have something that isn't covered. The golden rules are:
1.) THE ONLY WAY TO BE TOTALLY SURE OF A SAMPLE IS TO MAKE IT YOURSELF FROM SCRATCH.
2.) IF YOU'RE UNSURE OR YOU CAN'T FIND A LICENCE AGREEMENT WHERE IT SAYS YOU CAN, THEN YOU CAN'T.
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Just look in the sample library, 90% of samples located there are already 100% rip-off.
Sample ban V2 is coming sooner or later.
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What takes the cake is over on Freesound, I was reading about contributors who were generously making sounds for people to use under Public Domain. What would constantly happen, is the samples would get taken, used unchanged, released under copyright under other companies and people, and then get algorithmically monetized on youtube automatically. So you make content in the spirit of trying to be open and free, then get labeled a criminal for using your own sound. What a great system.
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Article 13 (now 17) will definitely give us headaches.
There's simply no way to detect automatically if a single "Kick" might be a copyright violation.
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but wait--
in the impossible situation where you get permission from the authors, upload the sample as hidden, and disable remixes and downloads is it still not ok?
Just asking, don't rip my head off please :o
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Simply buying samples does not allow you to distribute them, and getting explicit permission from an author to use a sample also doesn't mean you're allowed to distribute them. Even if you upload licensed samples to the Audiotool browser visible only to you, you are still redistributing and transferring the samples to Audiotool's servers which will eventually mean trouble.
If you use licensed content in your tracks, you can also by default not allow remixes. Even if the sample is hidden a remix will allow further distribution and the possibility to bounce the audio and make it publicly available by another user.
One of audiotool's main features is it's community and collaborative features like remixing and learning by example. Even if you disregard the redistribution issue that's not in the spirit of audiotool having to lock down every single track that uses "illegal samples".
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You heard it right here, everybody: there’s no exceptions.
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The microphone is in your hand, the person is in the room. That's the only way to be sure.
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Under TL;DR i expected something along ...
This is OK: Everything you completely created* on your own (as in "creativity")
This is not OK: Everything else
(which resemble your last rules)