14 replies to this topic

[camopaint]

To what extent do you/should you be allowed to "own" your caller sounds? Foxpro has thier proprietary sound files, which "prevent" one from putting them on another brand of caller, they are against trading/selling/giving away sounds on the web, basically they are very protective of thier sounds. With the amount of loot invested in them, I can understand why, but still not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Minaska sounds, on the other hand, are in a easily transferable format allowing one to record, manipulate, trade, sell, give away sounds at will. I dont know what thier feelings on this are, if any one else does, let us know please. So, how much "ownership" do you expect or think is reasonable for ecaller sound files. Should one be able to post thier purchased sound files somewhere for anyone to rip and use or should they be held tight by the purchaser, whether or not its Ok with the vendor?

[ShooterJohn]

Reminds me of Napster and the people that were forced to pay for using the "FREE" music. I'd be careful posting anything you paid for or know to be owned by someone else without written permission. Safe is better than sorry when it comes to companies and their products. You'd hate to be the example that they decide to make of someone.

[wannakillacoyote]

My take on it is that I prefer Minaska's open format to Foxpro's closed format. I like the fact that since I own (or will own whenever it arrives) a Minaska M1, I can use any of there sounds and manipulate them how I see fit. I also like the fact this format can be saved and listened to on a PC.Though I have not read any agreement, I think the INTENT by Minaska is that you have access to all of there sounds for life as long as you are using them on a Minaska caller. I think that if you get there calls and use them on a different caller, there may be some copyright infringement (Like RIAA issues that shooter mentioned).I personally don't see a problem with downloading all there sounds from there website if you are authorized and storing them for further use as long as that use is for a Minaska and not for distribution.

[camopaint]

Looking at the Minaska website, it does state "lifetime" of free sounds, no stipulation regarding owning the caller though. If one had purchased teh caller, with the "lifetime" of free sounds, shouldnt they be entitled to the sounds "for life" regardless of whether they keep the caller or not? Or would you say that its the "lifetime" of the caller theyre talking about? That, and they are not mentioning any sort of ownership of the sounds, any input on this?

[wannakillacoyote]

You're right, they really don't say anything about it on there site. I don't have access to the sound downloads area yet, but there may be some sort of agreement or disclaimer there.

[Bozsik]

I always find it interesting that people converse amongst themselves on topics such as this. They have a toll free #. Call them and you can eliminate all doubt as to their desires for copyright infringement. db

[Shoot-it]

If we all did that than what will we talk about. Western river did have free sounds you could down load havent looked in awhile.

[wannakillacoyote]

I always find it interesting that people converse amongst themselves on topics such as this. They have a toll free #. Call them and you can eliminate all doubt as to their desires for copyright infringement. db

Makes sense, but I'm not sure that's what camopaint is asking. He is asking what we thought SHOULD be ours, since they are using the term "Lifetime unlimited sounds".If he called them and they said, "No, you can't", then he couldn't use legally use them. For now it's still in a grey area.

[camopaint]

Actually, Im just asking about folks opinion on the subject. I came across a few threads in other places where folks were not happy with one company or another for thier stance on the "ownership" of the sounds, thought it might make for interesting discussion.

[Rich Cronk]

Actually, Im just asking about folks opinion on the subject. I came across a few threads in other places where folks were not happy with one company or another for thier stance on the "ownership" of the sounds, thought it might make for interesting discussion.

Calling sounds from the big name companies are copy righted. They lay down each sound on a graph like a voice print. When you buy a calling machine, CD, cassette tape etc. withthese sounds on them, you own the caller or CD, but you do not own the sounds. You are free to use them for life, but you dare not record the sounds and sell them to someone else. To do so will open you up for a law suite.

[ehd]

Out of respect to the company that gave you the sounds,you should keep them to yourself. They are kindly giving you something to support there product that you have purchased. Keep it with that item. Foxpro has helped make that clear by encrypting there sounds.

[dabob]

When I got my first cassette caller tapes were about $6.00 each and I had four factory tapes and about the same amount of tapes that we copied off of other original tapes. For years I used two original tapes and one tape I copied and I killed a ton of coyote with these 3 sounds. The one I copied sounded terrible there was a bunch of background noise in it. But I think the background noise sounded like breaking brush or a fight in the bushes, the coyotes sure didn't mind the background noise. The life time of free sounds from Minaska is a great deal but I also think getting 100 sounds of your choice on the Foxpro Callers with your purchase is also a good deal. Foxpro sells 16 sounds for $25.00 if you do want to get some more sounds. The last cassette tapes I did buy were $10.00 each so paying $25.00 for 16 sounds doesn't seem to bad to me. I have a FX5 and a Scorpion, when I got the Scorpion I made sure I got 100 different sounds than I had before. Before I got the Scorpion I bought 16 sounds from Foxpro so I now have 166 Foxpro sounds. I use about 8 of these 166 sounds. If your thinking of buying a Minaska or a Foxpro I would get the caller that you like the most and not worry too much about the sounds.

[aquaelvis]

Well here is what foxpro has to say about it. (posted on this very forum)When friends share their sounds with another friend, it's not such a big deal. What will get someone in trouble is when they announce that they will give away our sounds to anyone. And, even worse, if they take one of our sounds, manipulate it a little, and give it away to another company (competitor) as a free download. That is when the bigger fines come into play. If anyone has any other questions on our products, please let me know. I will be more than glad to help. Thanks!Mike DillonFOXPRO Inc."The Caller of the Wild" Sounds like foxpro knows people will share sounds and does not have an issue with it. Also, we use different callers at different times. If I have a great sound on mine and we are going to be using someone else's, I'd want them to have that sound. Same with CD's. When I buy a new CD I burn 2 copies, one for each truck. I keep the original in the house. (had all my CDs stolen out of the truck once and that sucked) I don't think anyone would care that I burned a CD to keep in my wife's truck. On a side note- bought a "new" CD on ebay once and the guy sent me a burned copy of the CD in a clear jewel case! What an idiot!

[Bozsik]

I am glad to say I make my own calls and much to my wife's chagrin, make my own noises - except for the one call NVWalt gave me. It's fun playing that way. Like learning to play an instrument. Never a worry about copyright infringement that way. db

[ShooterJohn]

Copyright infringement is a very tricky area. Even though FoxPro says what they did it wouldn't stand up in court the sounds are theirs. Is it worth it to prosecute everyone who steals a sound , NO. But from personal experience I used to copyright my videos and have successfully won every claim I've made regarding said videos. It's not a difficult process you just have to make copies and submit them with the proper paperwork. I'm not a big company and that's the part that bites me the worst. I guess it's easier to steal something than buy it in some cases. That is until I hammer them, nobody wants to go to jail and or pay fines. It's a sore subject with me due to prior experience. But if you do it don't post about it and I'd keep my mouth closed. After all look at what happened with Napster. Just because you can do something doesn't make it legal.