What in Logic is Royalty free for selling sound effects and drones online

[Bcraig_music69]

Hi I am been trying to create a drone music intro so I can sell on pond5.

Now my question is what in Logic is Royalty free ?

I am worrying about copyright laws.

[David Nahmani]

The Apple Sound Library that comes with Logic Pro is royalty free. See all the details at: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202939

[Bcraig_music69]

The Apple Software may contain sample content including but not limited to artwork, audio files, audio loops, built-in sound files, graphics, images, impulse responses, photographs, samples, sound sets, sound settings, video files, or similar assets (“Sample Content”). This Sample Content is proprietary to Apple and/or its licensors, and is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws, including but not limited to copyright. Except as otherwise provided, all Sample Content included in the Apple Software may be used on a royalty-free basis to create your own original soundtracks for your film, video, and audio projects. You may broadcast and/or distribute your own soundtracks that were created using the Sample Content;

however, individual Sample Content assets may not be commercially or otherwise distributed on a standalone basis, nor may they be repackaged in whole or in part as audio samples, clipart, music beds, sound effects, sound files, sound libraries, stock animation, or similar assets

 

 

I know not to take any kind of preset and try to say its my and sell it 

 

But I would for example use my only recordings put in the sampler and then maybe use a single note using retro Synth for the droning under line tone would this be  against copy right?

[David Nahmani]

6 minutes ago, Bcraig_music69 said:

I would for example use my only recordings put in the sampler and then maybe use a single note using retro Synth for the droning under line tone would this be  against copy right?

I am not a lawyer but I suppose that should be fine - depending on what your recording is exactly and how it's mixed in with the tone? 

[Bcraig_music69]

4 minutes ago, David Nahmani said:

I am not a lawyer but I suppose that should be fine - depending on what your recording is exactly and how it's mixed in with the tone? 

So the bottom line is I can use any in logic as long as I change it to the point its does not Resemble the original?

[Bcraig_music69]

Thanks for Your time 

[David Nahmani]

Again I am not a lawyer but what I imagine could be a gray area in a court of law is if you took a sample, tweaked it a bit or lightly layered it with some other sound and the sold it as a new sample. That's not really what the library is meant for. If however you take a sample and make your own beat out of it and sell that, then I suppose that's ok. 

[JWMusic]

Years ago I used an audio sample from Logic in a track for a promo vid. I then wrote bass and recorded live strings over it. The sample was a jazz guitar duo. I couldn't register the track as the guitar duo audio flagged as copyright protected. I've never used anything that ships with Logic since. Just one incident so in no way a full answer to the question. I would approach the whole topic with caution and get advice from either a lawyer, union or PRO before releasing or selling anything. Even if it's just to get them to interpret the Apple wording from a legal perspective.

[Bcraig_music69]

It does matter even if you make it unrecognizable according to this

 

 

Sampling Myths 

“It’s just a few seconds”

It doesn’t matter how short the sample is, you still have to clear it. Even if it’s a fraction of a second, it might make it harder to detect, but doesn’t make it any more legal. 

“I changed it”

Pitching, stretching, distorting and generally messing up the sample is fun and creative, but it doesn’t exempt you from having to clear the sample. No matter how different it sounds from the original, clearance is necessary. You might think that no one will recognize the sample but beware, as automatic music detection technology is getting better and better. 

“It’s fair use”

Though fair use can be argued in some instances as a legal defense against copyright infringement claims (for limited use in transformative commentary and parody), it does not apply in most cases. If you don’t want to ask for permission and claim fair use instead, make sure that it indeed is fair use. 

“I’m not making any money off of it”

Just because you’re not selling the music, doesn’t mean that you don’t have to clear the sample. It’s still copyright infringement. Platforms like Soundcloud, YouTube, and Soundation can remove the content and may even ban you for uploading music with uncleared samples. Although there probably won’t be repercussions beyond that, it’s not worth the risk. 

 

[Studio162A]

Ok, so can you use, say, the sounds of a piano in Logic Pro if you play your own composition? And can you layer a Logic Pro shaker loop over the piano? And then upload the song to Apple Music or Spotify?

I guess what I'm asking is this: Is there a difference between using the sounds built into Logic Pro in an original composition vs. selling a library of sounds derived from the same sounds?

Jim

[Bcraig_music69]

Thanks Jim that a great question I hope someone can answer it for all of us 

[Studio162A]

From Apple:

 

"Except as otherwise provided, all Sample Content included in the Apple Software may be used on a royalty-free basis to create your own original soundtracks for your film, video, and audio projects. You may broadcast and/or distribute your own soundtracks that were created using the Sample Content; however, individual Sample Content assets may not be commercially or otherwise distributed on a standalone basis, nor may they be repackaged in whole or in part as audio samples, clipart, music beds, sound effects, sound files, sound libraries, stock animation, or similar assets."

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202939

[Bcraig_music69]

So you can use all sounds in Logic create compositions and put them online to sell then just not the samples them self is that correct ?

[David Nahmani]

On 11/18/2022 at 9:57 PM, Bcraig_music69 said:

It does matter even if you make it unrecognizable according to this

Yes, for material that is protected by copyright laws, but the Apple sound library offers royalty free use (under certain conditions). 

On 11/19/2022 at 3:00 AM, Studio162A said:

Ok, so can you use, say, the sounds of a piano in Logic Pro if you play your own composition? And can you layer a Logic Pro shaker loop over the piano? And then upload the song to Apple Music or Spotify?

Yes, definitely. That's the whole point of the Apple Sound Library, to offer sounds that you can use royalty free to compose music with, and then the music is yours to upload and distribute. 

On 11/19/2022 at 3:00 AM, Studio162A said:

Is there a difference between using the sounds built into Logic Pro in an original composition vs. selling a library of sounds derived from the same sounds?

Yes, a big difference, and the former is allowed whereas the latter is not. Basically Apple gives you a kick drum sample so that you can use it royalty free to be the kick drum of a song you compose and upload and distribute - that's what it's intended for. However you are not allowed take all the kick drum samples Apple gives you, repackage them as a folder containing hundreds of kick drum samples, and sell it on your website as a kick drum sound library. That would be repackaging and that's not allowed as per Apple's terms of use. 

7 hours ago, Bcraig_music69 said:

So you can use all sounds in Logic create compositions and put them online to sell then just not the samples them self is that correct ?

That's exactly it. 

Now the only gray area is this: let's say you start making your own sample library of "weird sounds". For "weird sound #1" you play one note of one of Apple's electric piano, pitch bend it, distort it, layer it with a pitched snare sample that is repeated multiple times.... now that's not really a composition, that's a sample, and yet you haven't just taken one sample and repackaged it, you've actually done some sound design. 

Now pushing this to the extreme, let's say you take a kick sample and pitch it and EQ it, then repackage it as part of a drum library? You've also done some sound design, but that's still pretty much just sample repackaging? 

In my opinion, if those case went to court then a lawyer defending Apple could potentially argue that in both these cases you've just been repackaging elements of the sound library in order to re-distribute them which is against the terms of use — and while in the former case (weird sound with a lot of sound design) your lawyer could potentially have a defense because you've been doing quite a bit of work to create unique sounds using the sound library, in the latter case (pitch and EQ a kick sample), it would be much more challenging for your lawyer to build a defense. 

But back to what the sound library is intended for, composing music, as long as you use the instruments and samples to compose a piece of music then you're covered and that's royalty free. 

Some notable examples are in one of my response to the following topic: 

Note that this is a separate issue:

On 11/18/2022 at 12:12 PM, JWMusic said:

I used an audio sample from Logic in a track for a promo vid. I then wrote bass and recorded live strings over it. The sample was a jazz guitar duo. I couldn't register the track as the guitar duo audio flagged as copyright protected.

That is a known issue that some of the platforms AI will flag the content in the Apple Sound Library as copyright protected — even when it isn't. After all, if you use Vintage Funk Kit 03, it may be flagged because the AI recognizes it as part of that (copyrighted) Rihanna and/or Maroon 5 song, even though you are legally allowed to use it to compose your own new song. 

[Bcraig_music69]

Quick question Is Logic RetroSythn a model after a hardware synth if that is true is that ok to use or is that a sample base instrument and cannot add to my drone to sale?

[David Nahmani]

5 hours ago, Bcraig_music69 said:

Quick question Is Logic RetroSythn a model after a hardware synth if that is true is that ok to use or is that a sample base instrument and cannot add to my drone to sale?

Yes that's ok to use, it's an analog modeling synth, it's modeled after analog synths in general, but not a specific one in particular. 

[Bcraig_music69]

David what other Logic Synths can I also use with no copywright problems ?

 

[David Nahmani]

2 minutes ago, Bcraig_music69 said:

David what other Logic Synths can I also use with no copywright problems ?

You can use any logic synth without copyright problems, just mind what I explained earlier: if you're going to play all the notes of the scale individually and resell those as a package of a sampled synth then you're in hot waters, but if you use it for composing then you're fine. 

If you're using the synth for sound design in order to craft your own samples to repackage and sell, then we're back to my mentioning a "gray area" earlier in this post. 

[MikeRobinson]

Part of the practical problem here is that sound-related websites use automated tools to filter for potential "copyright violations."  But, these tools are not necessarily at all "smart."  So, they apply purely-binary "algorithms" to pick up on "a sound that they have heard before," and in response they automatically and blindly flag it.  Whether or not "that sound" came from Apple's furnished library.  Maybe there is a human out there who can "make the call" properly in your favor, overruling the algorithm, or maybe there is no one out there at all.

In other words: "AI = Artificial Intelligence" very often is not "intelligent" whatsoever.  It can perform rapid sound-pattern recognition against a database of sound files – "goody, goody" for it – but it does not actually "know" how to judge the results. And, if they are not employing people to make the call on your behalf, your only option is to pick another site.

Edited November 23, 2022 by MikeRobinson

[Bcraig_music69]

Mike That is awesome that You shared that Thanks 😀

 

Do Happen to know any good one to use to run my sounds,sfx and drones through before selling?

[David Nahmani]

1 hour ago, Bcraig_music69 said:

Do Happen to know any good one to use to run my sounds,sfx and drones through before selling?

With these types of sounds you're less likely to trigger flags in an automated copyright filter than when using a drum loop or a keyboard loop that is already used in another song. 

Basically if you're doing honest work and are actually trying to make your own unique content, my guess is that you shouldn't have problems. The problem would most likely arise if you were trying to make a quick buck by doing the least amount of tweaks possible to existing sounds and repackage them to sell them under your name when you really haven't done all that much to make them unique. 

[Bcraig_music69]

What does this mean when people sell sounds online “Cleared for sampling: “No Or Yes?

 

[David Nahmani]

5 minutes ago, Bcraig_music69 said:

What does this mean when people sell sounds online “Cleared for sampling: “No Or Yes?

Cleared for sampling means that you allow the people who purchase your material to modify it or use them in their own compositions (as opposed to only playing it back as is for example as a soundtrack for a movie or commercial). 

[Bcraig_music69]

David is Logic Sculpture synth ok to use to create and then sell is that a safe synth ?

[David Nahmani]

59 minutes ago, Bcraig_music69 said:

David is Logic Sculpture synth ok to use to create and then sell is that a safe synth ?

All synths are safe, it's how you use them that matters. If you just hit a single note playing one of the Sculpture presets then it would be tricky to argue that it's not simply "repackaging" but if you design your own sound from scratch then I suppose that would be alright. 

[Bcraig_music69]

I been told its ok as long as the exciter is not sample based not sure if Sculpture uses sample libraries as their own exciter for their sounds 

[David Nahmani]

Sculpture is a synthesizer, it does not use samples.