I am curious, what is your view of proprietary VST and VSTi piracy?
Don’t expect many responses here. I have to admit I’m guilty of pirating some big name VSTs which I’d prefer not to mention, but I tend to avoid pirating from the little guys as they tend to feel the hit more. Still however, my plan is that if I ever make money with ANY pirated software, that the money will go directly back into buying the software I used.
Me too!
Except, replace ‘software’ with ‘smashed store window’ and ‘VST’ with ‘guitar’.
Also, if I ever make any money with my bit torrent watching, I plan to pay for those DVDS.
word up to all that. that’s as ethical as it gets right?(especially if you don’t have the funds)
I’m guessing the bigger companies torrent their own products anyways because of said situation (download it for free, actually make money using it, buy that shit)
Exact same situation here, except i highly doubt I’ll be making enough money for the big-timers anytime soon if ever!
Convenient, that analogy… too bad I’m not preventing anyone else from having that guitar. I’ll admit that my position on the issue isn’t morally clean, however, I wouldn’t ever spend $300 for a piece of software without first trying out the fully working, non-gimped version. Just like if I ever decided to buy a guitar, I wouldn’t spend anything on it before trying it out. And don’t think I figure that in any way justifies my actions, 'cause I don’t. I happen to be a programmer, and I see the inherent irony in what I’m doing when I use pirated software. I also, however, have thought quite a bit about piracy in relation to software I create, and I’ve come to the realization that if some recent student was using my software illegally, not in a capacity to make money, chances are they would either be a future customer, or they wouldn’t be using software for long anyway. If they were in the “future customer” category, then chances are they’d actually be benefiting me by letting their friends know about my software. If they weren’t using my software for long, then I probably wouldn’t have had a sale in the first place anyway, and now they STILL might spread the word about my product. So in the long run, the ONLY users that are harming me are the ones making money off my software without paying for it, because those are the ones that can afford to pay that choose not to because they’re simply greedy. That of course, and the people cracking my software.
It may seem like moral highground to think this way, but I don’t consider it so because I still very much feel guilty every time I use pirated software, which is why I WILL eventually pay for it if I use it regularly.
I rent all my movies thx 
… and the price of movie rentals at big chains these days is outrageous which is why I NEVER rent from a store like Blockbuster. My local video store has prices 1/4 the price of the big chains. That being said, the outrageous prices of mainstream media has a LOT to do with the current state of piracy. The markup on media has become amazingly high, nowhere near in relation to the actual increase in quality. Who in their right mind wants to pay $29 for a CD that only has a two or three decent tracks on it? Especially when the actual artist only gets a whopping $2 from the sale of that CD? Nobody. That’s who. With digital production techniques, the price of producing movies has come down, yet still the theaters charge $15 a ticket, for what equates to nothing but a sore neck and an advance preview of a potentially shitty movie. And on top of it you end up paying $10 for a pop and popcorn, which you could get for $3 outside the theater. It’s no wonder people download movies from the internet to avoid all that hassle.
Either way, as I’ve stated, I’m not stating by any means that piracy is justified, but I can definitely understand why it occurs… I have my own reason for doing it… being lack of cash. That’s my ONLY reason, and it’s still not justified. I’m guilty, like anyone else who pirates, and I’m well aware of it.
this is why i bring this up. I don’t feel guilty, at all. and i don’t believe anyone should allow a company, of all things, such emotional leverage.
i’m talking about VST’s and VSTi’s, musical instruments.
perhaps this is a bit romantic, but I believe piracy of music software is justified for those who can’t afford it. piracy in the name of art is a beautiful rebellion 
even if it’s the little guys
I have guilt in regards to the developers, not corporations. If I pirated Renoise for instance, Taktik and the crew would be missing out on their livelihood. I have less sympathy for large corporations that charge exorbitant amounts for their software, but I am still grateful they produce it, and I find it useful, and therefore, I do feel the need to support it. This has nothing to go with them guilt tripping me, but simply, my personal choice to support those that support me. Karmic retribution if you will.
Yeah, I have to admit that I do feel guilty about the VST(i)'s that I pirate, but I try my best to support/buy the software I truly use all the time.
However, it gives me an excuse to wear my eye-patch.
I’ve pirated most of my plugins… Although I’ve paid for Sampletank,And I would do it again.
And Renoise of course 
Lack of cash is definitely the only reason i have ever downloaded pirated software. So, what if you aren’t buying something to use - in order to make your own money?
Software, VST’s, music… everything it’s all just experiences…that’s all anybody sells or buys (i’ve also heard it put as “life enhancement”). If you use a Vst simply because you enjoy it, and you can afford it, then you would have to be a dick not to pay for it right?
Hmm, most of my favourite plugs are freeware anyway, just to mention drumatic or audjoo helix. But I paid for vanguard and nexus.
Oh, but I “tested” all of them much longer than the shareware period allowed.
It is sad that the prices for some great vst and vsti are adapted for studios with bigger budgets than regular gals and guys. I love paying for my gear and it feels good in my heart. But often it is about to much money to just belive in brief descriptions therefore it is kind of good to be able to try first.
I also have a hard time accepting music as a full-time job and I would never try making money out of my music. When I am able to combine other things with making music why should not others? Kind of disturbing opinion I guess, but Im tired of the rotten record industry and by downloading music I hope that some day the artists that have more sensible intentions with their music than just making money out of it will be the only ones left.
I’ve payed for all my free VSTs.
My personal opinion not acting as a spokesman:
As long as you have the skill to deal with it but not the money to buy it:Fine
If you have the money but simply don’t care to spend it then you loose my respect.
sweat and blood.
i’'ve only had the internet since nov 2006 so i wasn’t even aware of warez when i got a laptop for music. (I had a copy of fruity loops off a mate that i didn’t even know was cracked) tho it didn’t take me long to find demoniod.com (rip!) and corporal cleggs fine audio warez - i got over excited and downloaded every daw, plugin, instrument that i could lay my grubby paws on -
then i found renoise (whilst looking for free samples - tried the demo and bought a copy and then realised that i didn’t use any of the warez at all - i only use samples (altho they are stolen from other people too!) and about 3 vst’s - camel crusher, crayon filter and one limiting vst that actually is warez but is so expensive i’ll never be able to afford the full version.
to be honest - without warez i’d 100% never have started making music on computers - now i hardly ever use em, if i’d have bought all this software straight off i’d be a couple of grand deeper in debt and would still be using renoise and freeware so thank for l337 cr4Kzorz
Renoise + freeware VSTs is plenty for 99% of my needs.
I must admit, there is a cracked suite of VSTs of which I use 3 fairly regularly, I’d like to support the developers but their asking prices are, frankly, taking the piss.
I mean, 200 euros for a filter? Yeah right.
I paid less than that for a real, hardware analogue filter for christ’s sake.
A real hardware analogue filter with all kinds of design, manufacturing, distribution, packaging and shipping overheads. None of which apply to a software license.
Dont take the piss with your prices and people won’t take the piss by using warez. Renoise is a fine example of this, it’s too cheap, even!
I’m happy to support developers when I can, like renoise, etc. Although there are a certain set of VSTs I use that I could never afford, unless I got some TV soundtrack contract or something hahah…
Too many companies actually punish their customers for buying their software, for example forcing you to waste a USB port and use a dongle (dongles are always sketchy and prone to failure, and not so much fun to carry around with you)… when the crack is up for download within days of release anyway. It’s strange, the people buying the software are the ones supporting, not pirating it. Even when I buy those kinds of software I STILL use a cracked version for convenience!
My version of Renoise is portable, put it on a flash drive, take it with me when I’m working (or sorta working hahah), wherever!
Yeah, just take care you don’t relentlessly leave it laying around for anyone for the taking or you get famous quicker than any label would be able to.