Question about 2.01a update?
Hey there,
I was reading through the Readme associated with the 2.01a update and came across this.
IMPORTANT ANTI-PIRACY NOTE
==========================
To improve protection against software piracy, several identification tools are now applied to each individual instrument. This means that any pirated instrument (or nki file) downloaded from the Internet, or otherwise distributed, can be traced back to its original purchaser.
Hence, never make your instrument/nki files available to anyone!
What I often do is swap tweaked & modified nki's (patches only, not samples) with other people that I collaborate with, that ALSO OWN the same libraries as me.
This has been a very useful function to me because it saves me having to write a description of all of the changes to settings that I have made, or provide screenshots. And as far as I understand, I am not doing anything illegal in doing this.
And I am not the only person who does this, I know a lot of people that have the same work methods.
Anyway, what I would like know is if I am now unable to share my *.nki files (patches only) with someone else who also owns the library?
Will it cease to work on any machine with Kontakt that is not licensed to me? Or does it only contain authoring information in the nki about me, so that the original owner can be identified?
And am I okay to still do this as long as I don't go posting my nki's all over the internet on filesharing sites.
No offense, but this is quite a draconian measure on your part!
Regards,
Ben H
I was reading through the Readme associated with the 2.01a update and came across this.
IMPORTANT ANTI-PIRACY NOTE
==========================
To improve protection against software piracy, several identification tools are now applied to each individual instrument. This means that any pirated instrument (or nki file) downloaded from the Internet, or otherwise distributed, can be traced back to its original purchaser.
Hence, never make your instrument/nki files available to anyone!
What I often do is swap tweaked & modified nki's (patches only, not samples) with other people that I collaborate with, that ALSO OWN the same libraries as me.
This has been a very useful function to me because it saves me having to write a description of all of the changes to settings that I have made, or provide screenshots. And as far as I understand, I am not doing anything illegal in doing this.
And I am not the only person who does this, I know a lot of people that have the same work methods.
Anyway, what I would like know is if I am now unable to share my *.nki files (patches only) with someone else who also owns the library?
Will it cease to work on any machine with Kontakt that is not licensed to me? Or does it only contain authoring information in the nki about me, so that the original owner can be identified?
And am I okay to still do this as long as I don't go posting my nki's all over the internet on filesharing sites.
No offense, but this is quite a draconian measure on your part!
Regards,
Ben H
Comments
We are sorry that you see our Anti Piracy strategy as a "draconian measure".
Actually, it does not involve anything new, except better methods to identify the source of unauthorized copies of the software.
Please have a look at the Licence Agreement you´ve accepted while installing the software (Readme v. 1.01 and v.2.01.PDF), which, by the way, is valid for all the Kontakt-based instruments worldwide:
"4. Exclusivity of Licensed software
The Licensee is allowed to use the Licensed software he receives from T&S, all copies thereof, and
all pertinent documentation exclusively for his own purposes.
He must ensure that no third party or any of his own employees, unless authorised, will have access
to the Licensed software, may copy part or all of the Licensed software, or be given any opportunity to do so.
The Licensee bears legal liability towards T&S for any loss or damage - including any subsequent losses incurred by
T&S - resulting from the Licensee not keeping the programs for exclusive use, or not doing so with sufficient
reliability. Occasional use by a third party is only permissible if this is absolutely essential for the Licensee's use.
Renting or lending out the Licensed software and hardware is expressly forbidden."
Hence - nothing has changed...
The present anti piracy note only underscores that - in case we find a pirated software somewhere on the net - we might be able to track it back to the original purchaser.
This is, by the way, nothing unusual; every company can easily identify the purchaser on the basis
of the serial number, which is unique.
The only difference is that our method is slightly more efficient... :-)
Best regards,
Peter & Giorgio
Can a user that owns one of your libraries swap his patch settings (settings only, not samples), with another user that also owns the same library?
Yes/No.
I have read the License agreement and it is still unclear to me.
As mentioned it is not the software being shared, nor the waveforms, just the settings of said library that I use, and that we both own.
Since the nki file is useless to anyone that does not own the library anyway, I fail to see why users should not be able to.
in order to show that our anti-piracy strategy was not "quite a draconian measure", we proved that we didn´t change anything on the legal side: the original agreement is indeed still valid.
In addition, we did answer your "legal" questions by quoting part of the original licence agreement by Native Instruments, which applies also to our products. It clearly states that you are not allowed to share any part of the software - nkis included.
It should be made clear that nki files are not just settings: they include instrument programming and complex proprietary scripts. The most recent updates - something very "valuable" for those using pirated software, are also supplied as plain nkis. That's why they are provided by Native Instruments via the Service Center to registered users only.
As to the sentence: "Occasional use by a third party is only permissible if this is absolutely essential for the Licensee's use." :
The questions are:
- when is the "occasional use by a third party" absolutely necessary?
- does this apply to the use you are referring to: "a very useful function to me because it saves me having to write a description of all of the changes to settings that I have made, or provide screenshots."?
Our instruments are locked and cannot be tweaked around or modified anyway. The only parameters you can change are the settings on the instrument GUI. You want to share them? No problem: you can do it most safely sending your sequencer session (like Logic or Cubase sessions, for example). These files include all necessary settings (not only the static ones), but do not include the nkis themselves. Doing this, you're legally on the safe side.
This having been said, whether or not to share your nki files remains finally up to you, - bearing in mind that you take the responsibility for a possible abuse by the third party. But this is nothing new...
Best
Peter & Giorgio