hi, just want to share that in the EULA of omnivocal it says the data cant be used in any commercial or public performance.
Um, can we get some clarification on the restrictions of actually using this plugin/VST ?
If I create a song and put it on soundcloud or Spotify and it has an Omni vocal part in it, will Yamaha sue me?
Interesting. Can you post the actual EULA text for that section.
under the section for Restrictions
Data received by means of the SOFTWARE may not be used for any commercial purposes without permission of the copyright owner.
Data received by means of the SOFTWARE may not be duplicated, transferred, or distributed, or played back or performed for listeners in public without permission of the copyright owner.
The encryption of data received by means of the SOFTWARE may not be removed nor may the electronic watermark be modified without permission of the copyright owner.
They would probably just use the watermark to detect the music and have it removed.
Correct me if I’m wrong but this is a beta product so there is usually a ton of restrictions on betas.
this is the EULA for Splice,
A: Yes. The license for sounds you download from Splice Sounds permits use for commercial and non-commercial purposes
I would like to see similar wording for Omnivocal
However it is worded they are likely really trying to protect the underlying data for generating the voices. Synthesiser V does this too in their EULA but is very clear on end use:
You omitted the sentence that precedes these bullet points, which sets the context…
“Copyrighted data, including but not limited to MIDI data for songs, used by or used by or obtained by means of the SOFTWARE, are subject to the following restrictions which you must observe.”
It is referring to the use of existing copyrighted material in midi or other formats being fed into (or extracted from) Omnivocal. The material produced by Omnivocal under such circumstances would still be subject to the original copyright of the source material.
With respect to original material that you, the user, generates, the following clause is the only one that specifically relates, and it says:
“The data provided for or resulting from the use of the SOFTWARE (collectively, the “Data”) may be used only to the extent permitted by copyright law and other applicable laws and regulations in the place of residence of the customer using the SOFTWARE. If you wish to use the Data beyond the scope of the above, you shall, at your own responsibility, obtain the necessary permissions, etc. regarding copyrights, neighboring rights, and other rights, such as reproduction, performance, public transmission, transfer, lending, adaptation, etc.”
In other words, as long as you’re not using somebody else’s copyrighted material or otherwise infringing on copyright law in your jurisdiction, you’re OK.
this is pretty clear what philmac posted,
Except as otherwise specified, you may use the synthesized sound generated by using this product, whether commercial or non-commercial, free of charge.
this, I’m sorry is not so clear,
in the place of residence of the customer using the SOFTWARE
this seems to point to using Omnivocal where the software is, in your DAW, in your bedroom , no place that could be considered public performance, Ie, open to anyone in the public to hear…
No, that’s not what it means.
It would be crazy to not permit commercial use of the audio produced by Omnivocal, but the EULA sure is confusing. That’s one of the things Yamaha should fix as part of the beta.
This wouldn’t be the first time a Yamaha EULA is confusing. I suspect it is intentionally brief in this case because it’s currently in beta, but there is nothing in the existing EULA which prevents commercial use, as long as no copyrighted material is being used.
I expect a more detailed EULA when this product becomes GA. It is possible, for example, that singers who contributed vocal samples to the product could have licensing agreements separate from the product EULA. This would mean that, even if the melody is yours, you may have to enter into a separate licensing agreement with the owner of the voice you’re using if you intend to produce for profit.
Exciting times!
um KT66, so what does it mean?
It means what I said in the post you responded to.
sorry, KT66, it still leaves too much room for interpretation,
That would be weird considering Omnivocal is essentially a simplified version of VX-Beta.
Apologies for the lengthy text, but here’s a couple of portions of the Vocaloid EULA. I haven’t chased it up but I would expect VX EULA language to be similar once in GA.
“The following types of usage of the synthesized singing by the Software may require a separate additional license from YAMAHA which would be independent of this license Agreement. If you wish to obtain such additional license, you should contact YAMAHA to discuss their particular requirements. (a) Use mainly in a commercial Karaoke service/system to provide vocals including but not limited to backing vocals, including use to create commercial Karaoke software, Karaoke hardware, and internet-based Karaoke products systems and services. (b) Use commercially as telephone ringtones or as audio alerts or signals in telephone or telecommunication equipment, except when used in combination with other musical instruments or sounds within a musical composition.”
“4. SEPARATE ADDITIONAL LICENSE The following types of usage of the Synthesized Singing made by using the Software and Voice Library may require a separate additional license from Yamaha which may incur a license fee calculated according to the type of usage. If you wish to obtain such additional license, you should in the first instance contact Yamaha to discuss their particular requirements. (a) Use with VOCALOID™, product name of Voice Library or other similar expression, in whole or in part, as product, product package, advertisement, or otherwise visible to the public, and commercially reproduce, distribute, perform or display such product to the public. (b) Use in a commercial Karaoke or similar service/system to provide vocals including backing vocals, including use to create commercial Karaoke software, Karaoke hardware, and internet-based Karaoke products systems and services. (c) Use commercially as telephone ringtones or as audio alerts or signals in telephone or telecommunication equipment, except when used in combination with other musical instruments or sounds within a musical composition. (d) Use as built-in voice or sound for consumer electronics products, robots, car navigation system, gambling machines, musical instruments, computer software, game software, or any other hardware and software products. (e) Use in commercial motion pictures or other commercial audiovisual works. (f) Use in CD/DVD or other recordable media produced for reproducing, distributing, performing, or displaying to the public by commercial entities, including broadcast or any other transmission, except permitted use under subsection 4(c) above.”
so basically KT66, you just made the case that the commercial use of Omnivocal is a complete mess.
No, I haven’t. But I’m not excluding the possibility that, once it becomes GA, a more extensive Omnivocal EULA may be drafted which has restrictions similar to Vocaloid’s above.
We’ll have to wait and see.
…
So the, “except when used in combination with other musical instruments or sounds within a musical composition,” part would seem to suggest it is safe to use Vocaloid (and, and hopefully at general release, Omnivocal) in our recordings when we release them commercially (and, of course, we can when we don’t release them commercially).
But then:
Most of (d) seems an obvious no-no without additional license, but the “game software” portion might seem to be a potential issue for someone who is making music for video games. At least unless the “in combination with other musical instruments and sounds within a musical composition” also serves as a qualifier here.
(e) would seem to prohibit use for people making recordings for sync, again unless the same bit from (c) qualifies this one.
(f) at least does seem to qualify it is okay for CDs and “other recordable media” (do audio files on streaming and download sites qualify???) as long as they are used “in combination with other musical instruments and sounds within a musical composition”.
I’m not a lawyer, but I do wonder if adding that last bit to (f) is also meant to qualify (d) and (e). I’d guess it is not based on punctuation.
Anyway, it is good to see this being discussed. I flagged the same language from the Omnivocal legal agreement as being of potential concern when I installed the software. I do hope it will be clarified by general release.