As long as they don't use trademarks that don't belong to them there's no ambiguity to the legalities here; they are well within their rights.
You can't use the Fractal Audio logo without their permission. The content of the video isn't the problem, it's the use of a trademark that doesn't belong to you. Fractal Audio can decide if they choose to enforce their trademark or not.
That's what I was interest about the watermark/trademark thing.
Of course using a watermark without permission from a company isn't really ideal, but as some other user pointed out, it can be a sort of a "free ad - free publicity" BUT let's say the guy that is demoing/videotaping/recording isn't doing a too good job (i.e. kinda sucks), I'm sure the company will have something to say about that.
So in the end, I guess it's entirely up to the company to take a decision or send an "ultimatum" or cease and desit; on a side note, that means that anybody of us reading can do the same thing, and I don't see why I wouldn't do it in the future, IF the company decides that I'm not portraying a false image of the quality of the product (If they decides that I don't suck too much
)
Well maybe not so much the Fractal Audio reaction to people selling presets, but more the whole ethos of having commercial presets and the pitfalls that can happen. That's probably the way this discussion will go too. IIRC FAS stayed out of the last discussion.
I can't see FAS being too annoyed because to use a syx file (as long as one of their commercial copyrighted IRs isn't bundled with it) created on a FAS device you need a FAS device to use it. A few years back the Axe-FX was seen as brilliant but maybe a bit daunting to dial in and there were many geeky suggestions on how things could be done in the deep editing .... so even though it's come quite a way since then, the more buzz about third party presets that will help you get results quicker, the more units you potentially sell to people still on the fence worried about 'tweaking'.
Yeah, absolutely excluding the re-sale of commercial IRs or presets.
We could say the same thing about the companies that make Commercial IRs for FAS: I'm sure they pay a royality or they have bought a commercial license to do that; shouldn't user that actually SELL their presets do the same?
Like many other "virtual things" that are on the todays digital market, it's all about what I call "intellectual honesty".
If i take a factory preset and tweack a little of eq, change the factory cab with another factory cab and spin a couple of other knobs and then I sell that patch... well ... it's legal but I think is not "intellectually honest".
But if I build - say - an "Hendrix tone" patch starting from an empty grid, putting on that work all my effort and a lot of time, collecting all the original tones i can get, analyzing those tones (maybe using my quality and professional gear in my studio: from some guitars to quality monitors, spectrum analyzer, etc) and after a lot of tweaks, try-and-compare, measurements... and a lot of work and time spent on that project... I don't see WHY i can't ask some money for the "AxeFx Woodstock Hendrix Tones Library"
(even with the most sexy 3D rendered virtual box in my e-store!
) .
Can you do it by yourself? Just Good!... don't buy it, do it!
Absolutely, I was exactly going that way: intellectually honesty.
It's of course a very subjective thing: if we take an es. like death penalty, somebody might be ok with it, other might not.
That's up to the way You feel about it.
About the example You made (Hendrix tones): In that case, I feel (agin, this is my point of view, which doesn't need to be embraced by anybody) that You have to pay/buy a license A) to FAS for selling these presets B) to use the name of said artist (that is "Hendrix" in this case) that SURELY has a trademark of some sort on it.
I have to say there is solid community here and an incredible exchange of thoughts, ideas, opinions and technical knowledge. Patches are shared frequently.
As far as selling on this forum I would contact a moderator and ask.
^ This
Contacting a moderator would be at least something to do.
I feel the same way.
The community is incredible, that's why by selling presets without and explicit permission/license I feel You're kinda stepping out of it, trying to be the "smart guy" just to make a few $$$.
Again, other people can think it is not a problem, that's just my view.
People are buying KNOWLEDGE, not amps. Anyone can create these presets with a little imagination, a bit of studying up, and a clear idea of what they want to do. They are not branded 'Fractal Audio' by naming them by the platform.
Well if they are actually buying knowledge I don't know, most of the guys that are doing so are making their own presets on their personal tones, I'm sure there is some guy blatantly copying other presets and reselling them just to appear smart and/or copying some tones from a famous name for the same reason.
I've surely seen other guys copying the tone (let's say "drawing inspiration" haha) from big names and then bragging about it because people thought they were cool, but that's because they probably have a small dick.
(If someone reading this perceive to be included in that category, just so you know: I don't give a rat's ass, that's Your problem.
Not here to start a fight/nasty discussion nor this is a shot to anybody doing so.)
This is an oft discussed subject. The bottom line is if you like what a creator has done, buy. I have purchased a few interesting ones (Moke's Organ/Plexi is a pretty cool preset, and I did not have any desire to go through the trouble of researching/making it.) I have purchased a few others, but as with all these things, what works for some may not work for others. Their style/guitar/whatever didn't quite translate perfectly to my situation, so most of them sit somewhere far down on my preset list...never used. (The excessive use of compressors/PEQ and wild routings generally seems 'too much' for me...I can get the tones I like without those additions.)
Moved.
I'm not in any way criticising the act or against the selling of presets.
I've seen most of the people on the forum (Moke, Fremen and so on) doing it smartly (and in a sense, right, by actually giving most of them by sharing them; I've really enjoyed their stuff) and others just bypassing all forum (wrongly, if You ask me).
Sorry if I posted in the wrong part of the forum BTW, I had no idea where it was supposed to be posted.
R