Terms of Use and Sample Rights

1. Summary

This summary is part of these terms. The sections below give the detail.

• SampleForge VPO is a tool. It contains no organ samples, and we own no rights in any sample set you use with it.
• Every sample set belongs to its creator and is governed by that creator's licence. That licence decides what you may do with it, not SampleForge VPO and not these terms.
• Many sample-set licences do not allow the WAV files to be edited, processed or redistributed. If yours does not, you must not use features that create new or changed audio from it.
• You must not use SampleForge VPO to produce sample sets or organs for sale, or to redistribute anyone's samples, without the written permission of every creator whose samples are involved and a written commercial licence from us.
• SampleForge VPO does not decrypt protected sample sets. Its rights checks depend on what you tell it. If you misstate your rights, any resulting breach is yours, not ours.
• Sample creators make this whole field possible. Credit them, respect their terms, and support their work.
  • Our thanks to Piotr Grabowski for permission to use his sample sets in the screenshots on this website.

2. Definitions

"SampleForge VPO", "the software"

The SampleForge VPO application in any edition (Demo or Full), its updates and its documentation.

"we", "us"

The owner and publisher of SampleForge VPO.

"you"

The person or organisation installing or using the software or this website.

"sample set"

Any collection of audio recordings of organ pipes or other sounds, together with any organ definition files, images and other material supplied with them, whether free or paid.

"sample creator"

The person or company that recorded, produced, owns or licenses a sample set.

"organ definition"

A file that tells a virtual organ player how to use a sample set, such as a GrandOrgue .organ file.

"destructive change"

Any operation that writes new or altered audio data derived from a sample set's recordings: for example retuning rendered into WAV files, trimming, writing loop points or crossfades, tonal or EQ correction, reverb processing, extending a rank's compass, or generating missing notes.

"non-destructive change"

A change stored only in an organ definition and applied when the organ is played, leaving every original WAV file byte-for-byte unchanged: for example gain, tuning offsets, stop names, divisions, couplers and console layout.

3. We do not own any samples

SampleForge VPO does not include, sell, license or redistribute any sample set. We do not own, and claim no rights in, any recordings, organ definitions, images or other material belonging to sample creators, whether you use them with SampleForge VPO or not.

Buying or downloading SampleForge VPO gives you no rights in any sample set. Rights in a sample set can only come from its creator, under that creator's licence.

Where this website or our videos show sample sets, those sample sets are shown with their creators' permission and remain their property. Credits are given where they appear.

4. Your responsibility for rights

Before you import, analyse, change, combine, convert, export or share any sample set with SampleForge VPO, you must make sure that its licence allows what you are doing. If you are not sure, ask the sample creator first.

SampleForge VPO lets you record the rights you hold for each sample set and reminds you of them. It does not read, check or enforce any licence, and it does not decide what you are allowed to do. A feature being available in the software does not mean you are permitted to use it on a particular sample set.

You are solely responsible for any use of a sample set that breaks its licence or infringes anyone's rights. You agree not to use SampleForge VPO for any such use.

5. Destructive and non-destructive changes

Sample creators set different rules. Some allow any change. Many allow the samples to be used only as supplied, in a named organ player, and do not allow the WAV files to be edited, processed or used to make new audio. Some prohibit any modification at all, including changes to how the organ sounds.

Destructive changes

Destructive changes create new audio derived from a sample creator's recordings. You must only make destructive changes to a sample set when its licence clearly allows modification and the creation of derived audio. If the licence is silent or unclear, treat it as not allowed until the creator confirms otherwise in writing.

SampleForge VPO never overwrites original files without your permission. You must only give that permission where the sample creator's licence allows it. Writing to new files instead does not make a destructive change permitted: a new file made from a creator's recordings is still derived from their work.

Non-destructive changes

Where a licence does not allow the WAV files to be edited, some adjustments may still be possible through the organ definition alone, without altering any audio file. These include gain and balance, tuning offsets, stop names and division layout, couplers, and the design of the console. SampleForge VPO offers a "tune in organ file only" option for this purpose.

Non-destructive changes are lower risk, but they are not automatically allowed. Some licences restrict any alteration, conversion or use outside a named player, even where the WAV files are untouched. Check the licence before making non-destructive changes too.

6. No commercial sample-set production

SampleForge VPO is licensed for building and voicing virtual organs for your own playing, study and enjoyment.

You must not use SampleForge VPO, or anything it produces, to:

• create sample sets, organs, organ definitions or audio for sale, rental, subscription, or any other paid or commercial distribution;
• combine, repackage or convert samples from one or more sample sets into a product that competes with, or substitutes for, any creator's own sample set;
• redistribute any sample creator's recordings, in original or processed form;
• remove, hide or alter any creator's name, credit, copyright notice or licence;

unless you have both the prior written permission of every sample creator whose material is involved, covering that exact use, and a written commercial licence from us. We do not currently offer commercial licences. If you are a sample creator working only with recordings you own outright, this section does not restrict your use of your own recordings.

7. Sharing organs you build

An organ you build with SampleForge VPO is for your own use. You may share an organ definition, a console design or any audio only when every sample creator whose samples it uses allows that sharing. A free price does not make sharing permitted.

Recordings and performances made by playing an organ you built are governed by the licences of the sample sets it uses. Many creators allow recordings and performances; check before you publish or sell them.

8. Copy protection and the rights you declare

SampleForge VPO does not support encrypted or copy-protected sample sets and contains no means of decrypting, unlocking or extracting protected material. It must not be used, alone or together with any other tool, to bypass, remove or weaken any technical protection, licence check or access control.

For every sample set, SampleForge VPO asks you to state the rights you hold, and it uses those answers to warn you, ask for confirmation, and limit what it offers before any change that the stated rights may not allow. These checks are designed to reduce the chance of a licence being broken by mistake. They cannot verify that what you tell the software is true.

If you tell SampleForge VPO that you hold rights you do not hold, or you ignore its warnings, and then use it in a way the sample creator's licence does not allow, that breach is yours alone. It is a breach of the creator's trust and licence by you, not by SampleForge VPO or by us.

9. Credit to sample creators

Recording a pipe organ takes access, equipment, time, skill and a great deal of editing. Sample creators, many of whom give their work away for free, are the reason virtual pipe organs exist. SampleForge VPO is built to work with their sample sets, not to replace them.

SampleForge VPO keeps a record of the source of every stop and writes credits into the organs it exports. You must keep those credits, and you must follow any attribution the creator's licence requires. If you enjoy a creator's work, we encourage you to buy their sets or support them directly.

10. Your licence to use SampleForge VPO

SampleForge VPO is licensed, not sold. This means that when you buy SampleForge VPO you buy a licence to use the software, not the software itself: we keep ownership of it and all rights in it. Subject to these terms and to the End User Licence Agreement supplied with the software (which takes priority if the two differ), we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to install and use your edition of SampleForge VPO for the purposes described in these terms.

The Demo edition is free and may be used to evaluate SampleForge VPO. The Full edition is licensed once paid for.

11. What you may not do with the software

Except where the law or the licence of an included open-source component allows it, you may not:

• copy the software except to install it as permitted and keep a backup;
• sell, rent, lend, share or give away the software or any licence key, or let others use your copy;
• decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble the software;
• remove or change notices of ownership, credits or licences in the software or its output;
• use the software for any unlawful purpose, or in breach of any sample-set licence.

12. Third-party products and trademarks

SampleForge VPO is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the GrandOrgue project, Hauptwerk or Milan Digital Audio, or any sample creator. These names are used only to describe compatibility, and all trademarks belong to their owners.

The software includes open-source components under their own licences, listed in its third-party notices. Nothing in these terms limits your rights under those licences.

13. This website

The content of this website, other than material credited to others, belongs to us. You may view it and share links to it. Screenshots that show third-party sample sets are used with their creators' permission and may not be reused without it. How we handle personal data is set out in our Privacy Policy.

14. Warranty and liability

If you are a consumer, you have legal rights in relation to digital content that is faulty, not as described or not fit for purpose. Nothing in these terms affects those rights.

To the extent the law allows, we are not responsible for any loss arising from your use of sample sets in breach of their licences, from claims by sample creators or other rights holders about how you used their material, or from loss of data. SampleForge VPO does not overwrite original samples or organ files without your permission, but you should always keep backups.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited or excluded by law.

15. Ending your licence

You may stop using SampleForge VPO at any time. We may end your licence if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, including the sample-rights sections, after telling you and, where possible, giving you a reasonable chance to put things right. When your licence ends you must stop using and uninstall the software.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows the latest version. Changes do not reduce the rights you already have in a version of the software you have paid for.

17. Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you are a consumer living elsewhere, you keep the protection of the mandatory laws of your own country and may bring a claim in your local courts.

18. Contact and rights complaints

Questions about these terms: hello@sampleforgevpo.com.

If you are a sample creator and believe SampleForge VPO, this website or our videos misuse your work, contact us at hello@sampleforgevpo.com. We take these reports seriously and will respond promptly.