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The most amusing situation to me was when Carnage made a god-awful tutorial for Razer Music, in which he used a pirated version of Sylenth. Once he got called out by the public, he said[1] in a tweet:

> “lmaooo wtf why does it matter?”

LennarDigital (the company behind Sylenth) decided to reply to his tweet and said that they "are happy to make it a matter".

He later on went and accused Razer that it was their laptop in the video, which resulted in them canceling the contract with him and removing that god-awful tutorial from their website. I laughed so hard as the accusations went on and on.

[1] http://www.youredm.com/2015/10/22/sylenth-threatens-to-sue-c...

It's not actually true that you can "lose the copyrights to your music" if you use pirated software to produce it, is it? That doesn't sound at all true.

No, someone is probably confusing this with something that would be related to derivative works.

Unless perhaps the software ships with audio samples that are granted royalty-free usage to anyone who has a legit license to the software package? Extremely unlikely, just trying to imagine why someone would think this.

No, that is trademark, and that is only when trademarks are in open consideration for having become "part of the common culture".

That's got nothing to do with trademark one way or the other. The question is whether you can maintain a proprietary interest in something created with tools appropriated form others.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the answer is "of course you can".

[Moved my comment to the top level -- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11212642 ]

I did not know about this until now (and I, sorta, follow EDM). What a dumbass, that is hilarious

Then I highly suggest you to watch the tutorial (I found the re-uploaded version on YouTube[0]). It's ridiculous. Here's my favorite quote:

> I don't know what it does, it just makes everything super louder. [...] It just sounds very very way more stronger.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IPxxeb-4gk

I love the subtitles:

"I end up usually taking 'out' so it just makes it shorter and tighter so... normal would be... you know, you can kinda hear the difference a little, shorter and sharper."

Subtitle: "Increase 'out' parameter to isolate the attack transient"

Yep, exactly what he said.

Higher-quality version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOO5S4vxi0o

"To purchase the software you have to go through a bunch of screens, enter payment info, download, install, and then enter a serial number"

You're forgetting the iLok. Physical license keys are one of those laughable gimmicks of pro multimedia. My laptop only has 3 USB ports - fairly normal - one is always taken up by this dead weight (or I have to use a hub).

Plus, since iLok has the monopoly when it comes to dongles, they racket everyone into purchasing an additional "insurance", otherwise if you lose your key, your licenses are gone forever, unless you pay $130 (+$50 for the new iLok, + $30 for the insurance I belive). Seems obvious to me that this figure is not based on any actual required work, but on the fact that most people have well over $130 of licenses on their iLok, so they eventually give their money to iLok or move to pirating.

iLok is starting to go away -- at least it has with Waves. Waves is dead simple to install these days.

Yup. The main reason I still need it is for East West virtual instruments. Hopefully it will get dropped as more iLok-protected software keeps getting cracked to show how ineffective it is.

>To purchase the software you have to go through a bunch of screens, enter payment info, download, install, and then enter a serial number. For pirating software you just search for it and it's usually easier to install, with some cracks even bypassing steps.

For me that's counterbalanced by the fact that you never quite know what you're getting with pirated software. If I just buy it, I know I'm not infecting my main music computer with something nasty. Also, as a software developer myself I like to pay my peers for their work. And how much effort is it to enter a serial number?

My only anxiety is: what happens if I lose the serials? (I try to keep them backed up.) And will it be a huge hassle to move this stuff to another computer? If a company sells me software that's hard to move and reinstall when I change computers, I'm not likely to buy from them again.

Password managers usually have a way to add serial numbers or secure notes, that's where I store mine. And you should be using a password manager anyway, if you aren't already.

I just email myself a copy, so I can search. dead simple

>> "I think this all comes down to effort and usability. To purchase the software you have to go through a bunch of screens, enter payment info, download, install, and then enter a serial number."

Regarding this specific software it seems to me it's easier to get legally that illegally. Their website is really easy to use, checkout fast, and no copy protection to get in the way of the install.

Lately my experience has been more like log into website with pre-existing account, download latest legitimate licensed software.

Both Sylenth1 and Serum have really easy ways of purchasing and installing. This is a legitimate complaint for some companies, but is a terrible excuse to just pirate all software.

There a lot of music software available. You can avoid any companies using iLok and similar distribution methods and still have all your needs covered.

I have copies of Adobe CS for Mac and PC. I always install the cracked versions so I don't have to mess with uninstalling (deregistering) when I wipe my systems.

From the other tabs, it looks like Kayne isn't smart enough to use an adblocker when he visits Pirate Bay.