Have a very peculiar question about Samples - Guide me

[scatman84]

Hello

As I told you, I am new to MOD music......but I am getting hold of it....

I have an assignment whose deadline is near....So please tell me whether following method is LEGIT or NOT ?

What if I use only the Samples of the MOD files created by others ? I will change the the whole music, tune, arrangement, etc..

Is it legit ? If it Stealing, then I WONT do it.

Thanks !

[KrazyKatz]

Hey Scatman.

Taking samples from other peoples pieces is also known in old school terms as "ripping". Technically it's not legal unless you know the sample is freeware, creative commons, or you get permission from the person who owns the sample.  People would rip from each other all the time, so it's hard to be sure what is okay and what is not in a file.

There is tons of available free stuff out there though, so it really shouldn't be a problem to play it legal. 
What type of sounds are you looking for?
I and many others here would be glad to steer you to what you need.

[LPChip]

Since you will be spreading the mod as part of a game, I certainly would not recommend in doing this unless you have permission. Also mention when asking for permission that it will be shipped with a game.

Although I would recommend to create your own samples. You can download a free VSTi, and sample some sounds out of it. For drums this will be a bit harder though. An alternative is to download samples from a samplesite that allows you to share them. As KrazyKatz points out, the license agreement determines whether its allowed to use them that way or not.

[Saga Musix]

Since you will be spreading the mod as part of a game

So far this sounds rather like a freeware game to me than commercial release.
Sample ripping is a legal and a moral issue, and especially for beginners it is often the only solution to get samples.  There are better sources like Waveworld, though. I personally don't mind taking samples from other modules, but I just release music for fun anyway - and it doesn't hapen too often, since I only do that if I really need a sample that can't be replaced by a better one, since I can't find one.

[Louigi Verona]

I personally think that
1. ripping samples is not morally wrong (even if the author of the samples wants to make you believe it is). And it certainly cannot be considered stealing without changing the meaning of the word 'stealing'.
2. proving that a sample is (not) yours is very difficult, provided samples in the tracking world were used by thousands of people in different mods, so it is really difficult to find where they originated from, plus remembering the fact that many samples sound alike/taken from same synth/taken from same sample cd.
3. if you do want to say thanks to sample authors, I think it would be enough to mention it in the comments of the mod file. I never heard people use mods in commercial games and then have to pay some guys who in the 90s created several samples from their drum machines or Korg workstations. All of this does not seem to be a big problem, especially if you just give credit. Giving credit has always been enough in the tracking tradition.

[KrazyKatz]

I personally know that :

1. Ripping samples is morally wrong.