Commercial use question

[Nightfall_Neko]

DIscussions I found so far were unclear - can I include anything in this utility in a commercial project if it is not: derrived from a cloud uploaded project from another user, -or- exactly what was included in the default tracks?

1) Am I allowed to use existing sound banks in a commercial project's sound track, such as (randomly pulling numbers and names I don't have a plan yet) Dungeons of DrSynth in tab Grey character/button B?

2) Am I required to repay anything to the creators of this fine tool?

3) Is it possibles to legally dirrectly rip the entire track as it is for any preexisting track and include it in a commercial project?

[MartinLindaCZ]

Hi,
1) yes
2) no
3) I'm afraid, I don't understand the question. You mean you want to use some song made by another user or some included factory demosong as it is? If so, than no.

[Nightfall_Neko]

If I were to take Dungeons of DrSynth (one of the demo/bank tracks in the program) as it is and export it, is that legal?

[MartinLindaCZ]

no, it is not. You can email Cinemax support that you would like to use this song for commercial purposes.

[Nightfall_Neko]

Thank you for clerification on that, I was planning on swipping some sound bank pieces but felt like shotgunning the questions anyway.

[Scorcher24]

Originally posted by MartinLindaCZ:

Hi,
1) yes
2) no
3) I'm afraid, I don't understand the question. You mean you want to use some song made by another user or some included factory demosong as it is? If so, than no.

See, the issue is, that those things are not reflected in the EULA. I make games, not for a living though and if your company decides one day to sue me because the EULA allows them to, then I draw the short straw. I am eager to buy your program right now, but not with those EULA terms. Please have someone fix this, so we are on solid legal grounds.

[MartinLindaCZ]

Hi, did you read the EULA? I think all these points are reflected in paragraph 2. USER GENERATED CONTENT

[Scorcher24]

Originally posted by MartinLindaCZ:

Hi, did you read the EULA? I think all these points are reflected in paragraph 2. USER GENERATED CONTENT

Yes, I did.

Paragraph 2 has 2 sections, my rights and your rights.

So my rights are:

CINEMAX grants you, for a full term of copyright, a worldwide, non-exclusive, limited right and license to use the pre-existing material solely in your user-generated content. CINEMAX agrees that all rights, title and interest in the user-generated content, excluding the pre-existing material, shall belong to you.

It recognizes in this paragraph that I shall own the copyright to the created material. That is good and expected. I am going to omit your rights, since they don't matter for this discussion IMHO. But the only commercial exploitation is granted by me to CINEMAX.

And in Paragraph 1 it states:

CINEMAX hereby grants you, for a full term of copyright, a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right and license to install and use one (1) copy of the software solely and exclusively for your personal use (“license”).

Emphasis mine.
So, while I have the full rights to the generated music, the software is limited to personal use and it does not govern commercial use. Now I am no lawyer, but normally this kind of statement excludes commercial use. So one ad in my game and I am in the legal minefield that is music licenses. At least that is my interpretation of it, but again, I am no lawyer and have no law degree in any form.

This is the part of being a gamedev that sucks . No offense meant.

[MartinLindaCZ]

Sorry, but I think you don't understand paragraph 1 correctly. Personal use of the program means that you are not allowed to sell it, resell it, rent it, etc. It is not connected with user generated content, which is solved in paragraph 2.

[Scorcher24]

The use of the software is the issue though. If you buy, for example, Windows Home, it will excplicitly state that the software is for personal use only and you have to buy a different version if you are using it commercially. Normally you have an extra mention of commercial use, if it is permitted.

Also, renting and selling is governed in a later paragraph:

Based on this license, you may not rent, lease, lend, sell, redistribute, sublicense or otherwise transfer the software, or any copies thereof. You also may not reverse engineer, derive source code, modify, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works of the software, in whole or in part, or circumvent any technology used to protect copyrighted material.

So this seems to be redundant if "personal use" would mean only that.
I don't know, in the end, I will have to trust you or ask a lawyer, but that is just not worth it.
I'd be really happy if commercial use of the program could be goverened in the EULA and made more clear. Hence the confusion in this forum about it.

[MartinLindaCZ]

Ok, we will discuss this and possibly improve it.