Legal uage of Garage band loops

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Level 1

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Legal uage of Garage band loops

Sorry for the novice question, but I've searched other threads to find out about the legal use of Garage Band, but have not found the answer to my question. I know that it's not legal to use Garage Band loops alone and unaltered for commercial use, but is it OK to use several loops layered on top of each other commercially without legal repercussions? And how much, if any, does a loop have to be altered, before it is considered legally usable? Thanks in advance for any help sent my way!

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 31, 2009 11:34 PM

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Answer 1

poflynn

Level 4

1,303 points

Jan 31, 2009 11:47 PM in response to Dubesor

Basically you're fine. As long as you're not marketing the loops as loops. You don't need to modify them. You can use the loops as they are to create your own song.
If you searched other threads you'd have found the answer, including this link. I searched "loops copyright" and found this.
http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/FAQPages/CommercialRelease.html

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Answer 2

Feb 1, 2009 10:12 AM in response to Dubesor

They are totally free to use anyway you want in your songs, unaltered even. If you look around youtube you can find that lots of hit songs use them. Rihanna used Vintage funk 3 from garageband for umbrella and Usher used a jam pack loops from remix tools for love in this club. Just type in rihanna garageband in Youtube and you can hear it i was surprised when someone told me

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Answer 3

Dubesor Author

Level 1

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Feb 1, 2009 9:57 PM in response to poflynn

Thanks for the reply and the link. I read the agreement several times before, but I wasn't sure if it's considered legal to create and distribute a composition by simply layering several loops on top of each other with no additions of my own. The agreement uses the phrases "Individual loops" and "Stand alone". Unfortunately, I don't understand enough about music to add anything that would sound reasonably good. So, I guess my question is If I'm combining several loops together to get a certain feel, can that be considered to be my composition enough to be legal? I will check out some other threads also. Thanks a million poflynn

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Answer 4

Dubesor Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 1, 2009 10:03 PM in response to iCrescendo

Thanks for the reply and the Rihanna info. I read the agreement several times before, but I wasn't sure if it's considered legal to create and distribute a composition by simply layering several loops on top of each other with no additions of my own. The agreement uses the phrases "Individual loops" and "Stand alone". Unfortunately, I don't understand enough about music to add anything that would sound reasonably good. So, I guess my question is If I'm combining several loops together to get a certain feel, can that be considered my composition enough to be legal? Thanks a million iCrescendo!

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Answer 5

HangTime

Level 9

53,853 points

Feb 2, 2009 5:37 AM in response to Dubesor

if you read the link poflynn gave, the very first sentence of the answer is in plain english, no legal mombojumbo

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Answer 6

Feb 2, 2009 8:39 AM in response to Dubesor

Ruoliver wrote:
Sorry for the novice question, but I've searched other threads to find out about the legal use of Garage Band, but have not found the answer to my question. I know that it's not legal to use Garage Band loops alone and unaltered for commercial use, but is it OK to use several loops layered on top of each other commercially without legal repercussions? And how much, if any, does a loop have to be altered, before it is considered legally usable? Thanks in advance for any help sent my way!

Apple wants you to use the loops any way you want. The only thing it's trying to prevent is if you take its Appleloops, slap your own logo on them, and sell them as a loop collection to someone else. But if you're actually using them to make music in any way, no worries.

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