Guitar Hero World Tour Won't Allow Copyright Infringement 92
1Up did an interview with two of the developers for Guitar Hero: World Tour about the process of creating the game. One of the interesting things they mention is that they won't be putting up with people who use the song creation tools to make covers of existing songs. "We'll be actively monitoring the site. And, obviously, if the copyright holder complains, Activision will pull it down immediately. We can't condone people putting up covers of music. It's really there for original content." We discussed the creation tools themselves recently. Since then, Activision has announced that they'll be including a MIDI sequencer to assist with making your own tunes.
Re:Does this mean no sampling too? (Score:5, Informative)
If memory serves me correctly, there was that song "bittersweet symphony" back in the 90s that sampled part of a rolling stones song. The guy who owned the rights to that song (not the rolling stones, I think it was a manager type who screwed the stones out of the rights to their song) sued them and eventually gained rights to that song as well. He promptly whored it out to nike or some other large corporation, against the wishes of the guys who actually made the song, in addition to keeping every last dime of profits. And you could argue also ensured the song would be overplayed, annoying, and that The Verve would be a one hit wonder everyone was sick of 3 months later.
Certainly a strong argument against the status quo.
Anyway, I'm assuming if given the chance, that particular asshole would try to sue activision for all they're worth if you did.
Re:Does this mean no sampling too? (Score:5, Informative)
The song that the violin sample is from is the Andrew Oldham Orchestra's version of The Last Time. What really bugs me about the lawsuit is that the Verve actually did clear the sample! They had the right to use it in their song, but in the copyright holder's opinion (and the court's), they used too much of it. Go figure.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_Sweet_Symphony [wikipedia.org]
CJ
Re:Does this mean no sampling too? (Score:3, Informative)
You can't record on the vocal track. You have to use the in-game instruments only - no external samples.
Re:My impression about what is so cool... (Score:2, Informative)
MIDI does all you need - you just need GOOD SAMPLES. I've recorded my Jackson distorted and used sound forge to put loop tags in the right spot. I replayed a few songs using my electric guitar soundfont and it made worlds of difference.