Is it legal to use free plug-in software on a commercial recording

[Gary Gould]

Hello There

I was wondering is it legal to use free plug-in software such as Drumcore Free, the free version of Guitar rig 5 and Yellow Tools Independent Free etc, on a
commercial recording. Will I be expected to pay royalties to the software companies if I do.
The free versions have everything need at the moment and I will not be able to afford to buy the full versions of these particular software for a while.

I very much would appreciate any information on this.

Yours Faithfully
Gary Gould

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Gary Gould

Hello There

I was wondering is it legal to use free plug-in software such as Drumcore Free, the free version of Guitar rig 5 and Yellow Tools Independent Free etc, on a
commercial recording. Will I be expected to pay royalties to the software companies if I do.
The free versions have everything need at the moment and I will not be able to afford to buy the full versions of these particular software for a while.

I very much would appreciate any information on this.

Yours Faithfully
Gary Gould

Very very unlikely. And none of these companies would be able to deal with the mechanics of collecting royalties or really know that their software was used to create a specific recording.

However *you* need to read and understand the license agreements you enter into for any software you use. That is the only way you can get a definite answer for your particular setup.

Darryl

[peterle]

ist definitv legal to use free Versions for Commercial recordings..,

[JFreak]

It all depends on the license. If the license says you can use free/demo version for evaluation purposes only, then no, you cannot use it for paid projects. But the license must clearly say that it is "for evaluation purposes only".

[sunburst79]

Just as most have noted you need to read each EULA individually.
I Am Not A Lawyer but tend to agree with JFreak. If its listed as evaluation only then its almost certainly restricted to non commercial use. One of the things your paying for with the paid version is the rights to use it commercially. And many times the developers may be paying licensing fees themselves on other IP they are using in their product that gets conveyed to the end user with a full license.

[Smurf43]

Originally Posted by darryl ramm

however *you* need to read and understand the license agreements you enter into for any software you use. That is the only way you can get a definite answer for your particular setup.

^^^^
this!

[TruestPain]

How could one find out which of their plug-ins were used in said song at said time on said release, ect?

[Bill Denton]

Originally Posted by TruestPain

How could one find out which of their plug-ins were used in said song at said time on said release, ect?

Hey, some of the forensic guys have toys that can identify something that was sampled from a 45, sped up, played backwards, and with a ton of EQ on it.

I've got the feeling that they might could develop a "signature" for a given plug in and find instances where it has been used.

But I really doubt if anyone would bother...