[Action Needed] Upcoming Changes to Asset Privacy for Audio

[Starfythewat]

Honestly this just feels like a practice in futility.

All this is essentially doing is wiping 13 ~ 16 years worth of audios from ever being used, this isn’t even going to stop the underlying issue of having copyright infringement material all we’ve been given is essentially

"Oh well we essentially made it impossible for you to share your custom audios and basically got rid of every audio you WERE able to use at the time but hey look! Royalty Free stuff that barely will ever fit what you need!"

So when they eventually make it so you can make public audios guess what? It’s gonna be right back to square one and people are still going to infringe on copyright so they effectively haven’t done a single thing about the legal complaint!

[seanieplays (syl)]

if its a cat and mouse chase then instead of fortifying the house with a bunch of holes I guess what you’re saying is get more and stronger cats

(cats = moderation)
(mice = bypassers)

[Starfythewat]

That is also unfortunately: Another practice in futility.

Trying to beat this game of cat & mouse is like developers trying to patch exploiters out entirely.

It’s NEVER going to happen.

What I’m implying is that this supposed fix isn’t going to work in the long term.

[jsnotlout1]

Yeah using Unity and paying 100 dollars to upload to steam is looking like a better option

[seanieplays (syl)]

makes sense, thanks for the input!
the fact the bypassers are DETERMINED to play some random nicki minaj song is kind of respectable ngl

[C_CROAXER (CROAXE_R)]

Unbelievable. This is something someone would make a joke out of that’s how bad this update freaking is. It at least stops bypassed audios but people will find ways around it if they try hard enough.

[Kostiskat (kostis)]

@C_CROAXER

if they try hard enough.

No need to even try hard. Just create an alt account to upload bypassed audios.

[jsnotlout1]

The royalty-free stuff gets copyrighted on youtube so don’t use it if you want any YouTubers to play your games.

[Jamstroxian]

@sanjay2003

It’s actually smarter in the long run. Yes, it’s a bit of a a pain now but, everyone wins. You. The person who made said audio. And of course, Roblox.

Yeah, I win because I can’t use sounds that I UPLOADED WITH MY OWN ROBUX AND GROUPS.

And only being able to upload 10 new sounds a month when I need more than that for the game I’m working on is SUCH A WIN!

Add on the fact that I don’t care if other people use my audio because good sfx are hard to find these days - SO MUCH WINNING!

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@sanjay2003

A lot of sound libraries are known to republish sounds and list them under “non-copyrighted collections”. If you remember the “oof” sound, it was a sound that was on a “non-copyrighted” volume disk.

@sanjay2003

Therefore, it’s impossible to tell or verify without manual research that the sound was not copyrighted.

Then the blame should fall on those libraries lying about using uncopyrighted sounds instead of the people using them unknowingly.

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@sanjay2003

Using third party audio for a front page game when you can afford custom audio is an issue in itself.

Just wait until you see where AAA devs get their sound effects from.

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@sanjay2003

The majority of sounds (unless under the Roblox account) are stolen. They’re derived from works that someone else made. So while you think that you’re using non-stolen work, chances are that you are.

@sanjay2003

Also, third party audio runs a higher risk of being infringement.

@sanjay2003

Unfortunately, that’s what the toolbox (in term of audio) consists of. People who reuploaded stolen work to use in their games. Toolbox is unregulated. The majority of sounds (unless under the Roblox account) are stolen. They’re derived from works that someone else made. So while you think that you’re using non-stolen work, chances are that you are.

@sanjay2003

The limit sounds temporary.

ahem - Sources?

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@sanjay2003

Lol no. They’re giving you the ability to upload audio for free (which has been a requested feature for over a decade now) and they’re giving you an extensive library from verified sources so that you don’t infringe

The only verifiable truth here.

[Starfythewat]

While I highly doubt that, I can’t deny the chance of that actually being true, thank you for the input.

[jsnotlout1]

I mean I only tried I with one track so it’s possible it doesn’t happen but why risk it?

[WaviestBalloon]

I’m also having this issue, it even thinks audios over 6 seconds (as stated in the original post that any audio longer then 6 seconds will be privated) are “sound effects” when they are not (Not complaining but still)

It almost gives off the idea that this change and plugin was rushed a bit, and not very well thought out at all

[Starfythewat]

May I also add-on to the last bit?

To say the library is “extensive” is a HUGE overstatement, I checked both Roblox’s and Monstercat’s sounds, and NONE of them were usable for a bunch of regular things.

They were all just songs…

Every…

SINGLE…

ONE OF THEM…

Impact sounds for hitting something (The most I got were weird sounding effects that were akin to very tame jumpscares and the rest were music.)

Footsteps (Literally zero, it was all music, NOT SFX)

Jumping (Again, zero, it was all music once again…)

To say that we were given anything to make up for the 13 ~ 16 years worth of audio we used to have is a blatant lie…

[omegamezle (Mezzie)]

There really needs to be categories for music and SFX at least…

[sanjay2003 (Sanjay)]

@Jamstroxian

Then the blame should fall on those libraries lying about using uncopyrighted sounds instead of the people using them unknowingly.

Blame doesn’t help you because you decided to use it. If a label or artists targets you, stating “oh I got it from a free sound library” is not an actual defense. Look at Roblox. They tried that and had to settle it with the original author.

@Jamstroxian

Just wait until you see where AAA devs get their sound effects from.

If you’re a AAA game (not on Roblox), you can afford sounds from a custom, in house source. Madden, Halo, Battlefront, Battlefield, Destiny, etc. The list can go on.

@Jamstroxian

ahem - Sources?

This is just common sense but, there was a class action lawsuit: Roblox vs. Major Music Labels and the suit was settled. When a suit is settled, it means that Roblox was most definitely in the wrong and this update is a direct result of that. It’s trending on twitter and it’s public knowledge. I’m not sure if links of that nature are allowed here so, you can look it up on your own time.

[jsnotlout1]

I just spent hours fixing my games audio and Roblox just set one of my audios to copyrighted WTH it was from Musopen and said it could be used without credit for commercial purposes any where

[Starfythewat]

@sanjay2003

When a suit is settled, it means that Roblox was most definitely in the wrong and this update is a direct result of that.

OR ALTERNITIVELY, the legal system was exploited for every single vulnerability and the music companies had gone to such absurd lengths that it wasn’t even worth the trouble of fighting it?

Have you SEEN some of the evidence they used? To say that these music companies got away with this was downright absurd but knowing half of whatever legal justice mumbo jumbo I’m not surprised they could actually get away with it!

I’m not denying that this update is a direct response to this lawsuit to prevent further ones, HOWEVER. I am in no way supporting the way they are going about this. There are better ways to solve this issue.

Current copyright law is a joke and a tragedy that has been twisted by corporations to snuff out the little guy, I’m sorry but someone had to say it.

[jsnotlout1]

They just set my other Audio to blocked. Wth is Roblox’s detection?

[sanjay2003 (Sanjay)]

@Starfythewat

OR ALTERNITIVELY , the legal system was exploited for every single vulnerability and the music companies had gone to such absurd lengths that it wasn’t even worth the trouble of fighting it?

After reading this, it’s pretty clear to me that you have no idea what the laws surrounding music are and how they’re applied. Roblox was exploiting by means of developers the works that were ultimately being infringed on. This is not a policy. This is not a conditional change. These are laws. A court system doesn’t care about how convenient or how happy it makes a developer. They care about laws and whether or not it violates said law. Which it does.

All these publishers and labels are direct competitors to each other. Some of them being absolute giants like Universal. All these companies would not be doing a class action lawsuit if there was no reason behind it. Roblox was definitely in the wrong on this one.

@Starfythewat

There are better ways to solve this issue.

They settled it based on their terms. The better way to solve this issue is impossible to automate. No software in the world can automate audio at that scale and determine if it’s legit or not. Or if the user has a license before it’s uploaded. They didn’t have much of a choice.

@Starfythewat

Current copyright law is a joke and a tragedy that has been twisted by corporations to snuff out the little guy, I’m sorry but someone had to say it.

It’s really not. Its easier for someone to steal work than it is to maintain ownership. You just haven’t been on the opposite side where your work has actively gotten stolen. It’s not a cool feeling. Being robbed of money that you worked hard for is not a cool feeling.

[Atlas_Detected]

This update is awful I don’t have the effort to reply in detail but devs who have over 900 audio needing to be fixed are just going to abandoned ship (I.E I’m included)