Vocoder samples and Copyright on Youtube

Software Instruments Vocoder V
#1

Hi

So, is it safe to use the “talking robot” samples from this instrument and not get copyright striked on Youtube?

Say I make a track and I use a vocoder preset where a robot says something, and then someone else uses that same preset in one of their tracks and copyrights / registers the track.

Will I get in trouble?

#2

HI @Aleque

No, you should be just fine, upload away!

HTH!

#3

It’s complicated.

Here’s a relatable equivalence.

Apple include thousands of royalty-free loops with GarageBand and Logic. Some have even even been used in well-known commercial tracks like Umbrella by Rhianna. In recent years, various users in especially the GarageBand community have ran into copyright-infringement issues both on YT and elsewhere when they release tracks they’ve created which include particular Apple royalty free loops. This is not because Apple lied when they said the loops were royalty free, it’s because someone has since used the same loop in a commercial song which by international-agreed laws is now copyrighted. Often if the afflicted creator raises a dispute with YT etc the copyright strike gets lifted, but not always, which has left some creators feeling pretty sour.

So…long story short…it’s going to depend on whether the AI-driven algorithms consider something in your song sounds too much like someone else’s published and copyrighted work, even if they used copyright-free samples to begin with.