http://www.make-your-own-karaoke.com/

[cvalleskey]

Hello,

I've been a casual user of Audacity for a little while, and was surprised to find out that my Dad had paid for it off this site: http://www.make-your-own-karaoke.com/.

I realize that under the GPL anyone is allowed to redistribute Audacity and sell it for however much they like, but the site has one major flaw: There is no mention of Audacity whatsoever on the site or in the downloaded bundle. Only when you have opened the package and then the disk image (I'm using OS X here) do you see that it is Audacity.

My Dad is of course upset about this, as am I, but in a different way. If I visited the site and there was a prominent display mentioning that all you would be paying $30 for is Audacity, then I'd tell my Dad he had just gotten scammed and there was nothing he could do about it. However, this is different because the site is obviously breaking at least one of the rules located on the Audacity license page (http://audacityteam.org/about/license).

So, what do you guys think of all this? I sent the developer (If you can even call him that) an email basically letting him know that I know of his site and how it breaks the terms and conditions set in place by the Audacity project. My apologies if I posted this in the wrong sub-forum. I only just now registered so I could get feedback about this issue.

[Locopomo]

For what it's worth, it also bugs me that anyone can re-brand and sell Audacity with no reward for the creators, but due to the open source licence there's little they can do about it. I suspect that the vendors you're talking about don't credit the Audacity team as it may lead potential purchasers to the realisation that they don't have to pay for the privilege of using the app. In another post recently, someone spotted an eBay seller selling the unaltered Audacity, bold as you like.

[waxcylinder]

And I'm amazed that that site makes it seem so easy to strip out the vocals - bearing in mind that we get so, so many posts on the subject ........

As stevethefiddle pithily observed recenty on the forum "it's like trying to take the banana out of a banana milkshake"

WC

[r.pricer]

Hello,

I, too, was sucked into the "scam" if that's what it is. I should have checked the contact info ([email protected] .com). I have sent them an e-mail anyway (not that I expect an answer) asking them if they offer anything more than what Audacity offers for free.

Are the Audacity programmers getting involved in this? Is it really a legal issue, the fact that you don't find out that it's Audacity until after you've paid for and downloaded it? Or do I just chalk it up to bad experience?

ronn

[waxcylinder]

Or do I just chalk it up to bad experience?

ronn,

The lawyers bandy about a Latin term "Caveat emptor" which translates as "let the buyer beware" - I just hope you didn't pay too much ....

WC

[r.pricer]

WC,

Do you think that the Audacity developers know of this site? Is it really illegal for them to use the Audacity name in their advertising?

Here's a copy of their e-mail response, if you're interested

Thank you for your email, Mr. Pricer.
Apparently you have obtained misinformation about our
corporation and our opensource Audacity vocal remover.
While we appreciate your concern about Audacity, I
must treat your accusation extremely seriously. I'm not
sure exactly what you mean about being "got." There
appears to be some confusion, which I need to clear up.

Make-Your-Own-Karaoke.com is a corporation that
develops, distributes, and supports only software
products we have developed ourselves, legally licensed
opensource software products, and combinations of both.

Make-Your-Own-Karaoke.com is fully aware of the
licensing requirements of opensource software. Any
products containing Audacity opensource are
marketed, sold, and supported strictly under the terms
of the GPL opensource license agreement.

Make-Your-Own-Karaoke.com re-brands opensource
software in strict compliance with trademark laws and our
licensing contracts. As much as we would love to advertise
the Audacity name, we are prohibited by law from doing
so. Violations of trademark is against the law. Many
unscrupulous vendors violate U.S. trademark law and the
wishes of the software developers who have worked
so hard to protect their assets. We assume you did not
intend to suggest that we violate trademark law.

Make-Your-Own-Karaoke.com has spent countless hours
dissecting each and every product. Often it takes our expertise
to get the customer up to speed to accomplish the function
they've set out to accomplish with the product. Technical
support is our specialty, and a satisfied customer is our goal.
Make-Your-Own-Karaoke.com is also known for our high quality
software packaging, ease-of-installation, and world-class 24-hour
customer support services which are provided by our full-time
staff of professionals. All these services are included with
your purchase.

It is a well known fact that opensource software can
be downloaded from a variety of sources. These products
are extremely complex and we find that our customers
appreciate quality support allowing them to get up to speed
rapidly and to get the full use of these powerful and
extremely productive products. In addition to our high-speed
and high availability binary download services, software
developers and other interested parties have 100% full
access to our source code. Information regarding these and
other licensee's rights are included with all of our products in
the license folder.

Your purchase is backed by a money-back promise. We fully
honor that that promise; your 100% refund has been processed.
If you ordered a CD, we ask that you promptly return it unopened.

For whatever reason, given your reluctance to take advantage of
our services, you may wish to instead try a hardware type product to
enhance your ability to remove vocals. Our hardware store is at:
http://www.Vocal-Eliminator.com/
We also offer 1000's of pre-made Karaoke CDs at:
http://www.FastKaraoke.com

I deeply and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience
we may have caused you. I'm happy to listen to your
suggestions on how we can avoid further confusion.

[waxcylinder]

ronn,

I will pop a PM to one of the developers about this thread, but I suspect that what they are doing may not be outside the scope of the license.

WC

[Gale Andrews]

We are aware of this company.

As a consequence of the Audacity® registered trademark, from our license page:

"you may not advertise yourself or your business as an authorized distributor of Audacity, and you may not modify Audacity then continue to use the Audacity name without the express permission of the Audacity Team."

IMO the first clause of the above is somewhat vague, and I am not a legal expert, but it's often taken by the seller to mean you may not mention the name Audacity in your advertisements. This is despite our guidelines (with I think no legal weight) that sellers should give credit to Audacity. I think the distinction probably lies in "authorized", i.e. you should not imply that Audacity is your product. Linking to our home page, mentioning that you are getting Audacity as listed there, and mentioning what you get additionally if you buy this version (as per our guidelines) would make it clear that Audacity is not your product.

The second clause of the above makes clear that once the seller has modified Audacity, even with a trivial change, then they may not call it Audacity, and its title bar should not say Audacity. I assume they have so modified it, but if they had not, there is nothing illegal in the re-branding per se.

So nothing I think we can do about this company on the evidence we have, but maybe we could be clearer what we mean about not advertising as an "authorized distributor of Audacity."


Gale

[steve]

I would suggest that purchasers of this package such take maximum use of their 24 hour customer support, and tell all your friends how great Audacity is.

[r.pricer]

Thanks to all who added to this thread. Thanks for the education. In defense of the company - Make-Your-Own-Karaoke - they did honor their money back guarantee, at least in my case.