----- Original Message -----
From: Eddie Bazil
To: Mahcem K Ozturk
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 8:37 AM
Subject: RE: Licence-Free matters
Hi Mahcem, great forum and many thnx for your kindness with the link and recommendation.
Re the term 'Licence Free': basically the purchaser can use the samples/loops in any music technology recordings in the public domain without having to pay any further fees or royalties. We also do not require the purchaser to seek permission from us to use our samples only to notify us so we can track the success of the content being used, however, we do insist on creditation as this is our method of marketing. The only restriction is, as always, that the samples cannot then be resold in any format other that part of a compostition or production.
So in basic English, once you have bought the samples you can use the samples in any songs or musical productions for commercial release without having to pay for the use of the samples again. Once you have bought the samples, that is the fee that releases the restricions on the Licence. BUT you cannot resell or repackage and resell the samples in any format or part of a package that consitutes a sample library or CD etc... So, use any of the loops in your songs and release the songs without having to pay us again or even seek our permission, but you must credit Samplecraze as the provider of the loops/samples.
Most sample cd distributors require permission to be sought and additional fees to be paid to the writer or publisher, so , in effect, you end up paying for the content over and over again. There is more than one reason for this and although distributors will give you the bull that it is to protect the writers territory, it is infact because the distributor gives such a small cut to the writer that the writer is forced to try to recoup some of the revenue through licencing fees and royalty recoups.
Example: Zero G are notorious for giving out the smallest licence revenue deals for writers, usually less than 8%. Big Fish give 15% nett of costs. So you can imagine why the writers are always well pissed off with these deals and insist on further fees if their material is used in a commercial release.
I hope this helps to clarify the matters a little more.
All the best
Eddie