VST 3 SDK Licensing FAQ

Can I translate the English Doc(developer.steinberg.help/display/VST) to Chinese Doc and put it on github and my website,which is free and open-source?

We have to ask our lawyers…
Does the google translation not enough for reading the pages?

Can I use the SDK to develop plugins without signing the agreement (and of course not publishing them) and sign the agreement later when I’m done developing and the software is ready to be released?

Sure, as long as you don’t release software which includes parts of the SDK, you don’t have to sign the agreement. Or if you release your code as GPL you don’t have to sign it at all. But then you have to release the source code of your own stuff too.

After some internal talk, we decide that you could translate to Chinese, but you have to mention clearly that Steinberg has nothing to do with this translation. Users of the translated document use it at their own risk.

Steinberg requires that these conditions be made accessible and recognizable.
Hope it is ok for you.
Cheers
Yvan

The “Proprietary Steinberg VST 3” license requires the use of a vst compatible logo, but I dont see any plugin developer use it on their websites. Are there older licenses without this requirement or are people ignoring the requirements?

Like the license mentioned it, you have to use the VST3 logo somewhere on your product or webpage and not forget to mention the Steinberg’s copyrights notice too

In case that the product is published, sold or distributed without physical packages (e.g.,
download), the Licensee shall display the VST compatible Logo and Steinberg’s copyrights notice on the Licensee’s website in the context of the VST Product. Steinberg’s copyrights notice: ”VST is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH”.

It seems that a lot of company do not respect this requirement which they accepted by signing…

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So if I understand everything right here…
I can make a plugin without signing the license agreement but I must still use the VST logo and copyrights notice, and then upload the code to my plugin somewhere?? Where? Or do I only have to hand over my code if someone is asking for it?

And if I want to keep the source to myself, then I’ll have to sign the license agrement and once again use the logo with the copyrights notice.

Did I get it right?

Regards

  • If your plugin is open source GPLv3 (you can make your source code available on github for example), you have to mention somewhere that it is open source GPLv3, then you not need to sign the license agreement (see FAQ here) but you have to respect some guidelines.
  • If you do not want to share your source code and you want to distribute your plugin then you have to sign the license agreement (see FAQ here).
    hope it helps.
    Cheers
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I’ve read the license agreement but was wondering, it says Company/Organisation but what about me as a sole private developer who might want to spread binary plugins and maybe earn a buck on it too?

Regards

If you are not a company or organization, you have to enter your name as private developer and sign the license.

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I thought that could be the case but wanted to be sure, thanks for the reply.

Hi,

I’m a Delphi Developer.

What would I need to do in order to legally “Fork” it and create a Delphi port of that SDK with on going development of the port? There is much documentation, and to avoid confusion, please explain.

I would later, after the port, want to create my own VST 3 plugins for commercial sale. I think I will need to sign the documents for the sale of the VST 3 plugins, but I am not completely sure about the opensource GitHub fork.

I am wondering if I do create a successful complete Delphi port, would Steinberg accept pull requests to merge with the port to make it available on GitHub along with the C++ version? If so, what would be the preferred path in GitHub that I should take to create a acceptable port for VST 3?

Best Regards,

Greg

did you ever check this with your lawyer? not being able to use the VST3 SDK from other languages is a real pain.

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Hey, I have a similar question if I develop a port of the SDK to .NET, I would hope that folks using my .NET wrapper would be able to still choose between a proprietary license and GPLv3.
@Yvan could you give us a confirmation about this particular usage scenario?

Hi
With the current VST3 License the users of such wrapper have to follow the same step than using directly the VST3 SDK: Steinberg proprietary or GPLv3.
As owner of the wrapper you have to mention your direct users (developers) not to forget to complain to this.
Best regards,
Yvan

Hi
The Usage guideline is mainly here to ensure that the VST trademark is correctly used.
Can you describe exactly what is the problem here?

Thanks

Yvan

Hi @Yvan

No there’s no problem, my questions have been answered.
I do understand now, thank you.

Regards

Hi
The Usage guideline is mainly here to ensure that the VST trademark is correctly used.
Can you describe exactly what is the problem here?

Thanks

Yvan

Great, it makes sense, thank you for the clarification.