This is very different from sampling for many reason. I will try explain a few in the hopes you can see where I'm coming from on this.

If you recreate a Yamaha Style on a KORG keyboard, you still won't sound like a Yamaha keyboard unlike sampling. Your not actually taking the sound of the Yamaha to the KORG. All your doing is converting the note data of the style from one format to another.

So, the end result will still sound like a KORG that will sound very different from the Yamaha, even though it's playing a Yamaha style.

The actual copyright on a style is then another complicated issue. While KORG own FULL rights to the note data as they paid either a third party programmer to create it, or they used one of their own internal employees. The actual use of the style in your music is copyright free.

The conversion of the styles then hits two issues.

1: The tool you used to convert the style with.
This is NOT illegal. Just like Nero can sell a program that copies CD's, EMC can sell a progarm that can convert styles. It's the usage of this program or any conversion program that can be questioned.

2: To actually convert a style from a Keyboard you own, to another format is legal. To convert a style from one format to another from a source that you do not own, is illegal. However, this is a very grey area of the Law that the manufactures can and will ignore because it benefits them.

For example, as you have seen on this forum, someone converted the G70 styles within only a few weeks of the keyboard being released, and Roland flipped out and got them removed from a number of websites. But yet they allow people to freely distribute the styles from discontinued keyboards freely, even though this is illegal.

The reason for this is very simple. If you like a Roland, your going to buy one anyway. The availability of illegally converted styles is not going to make you change your mind on this.

Added to that, knowing that you can have these converted styles from a previous KORG, and other keyboards running on your Roland gives you an added bonus.

Now... how that benefits everyone else is, a person who loves KORG, Yamaha, or another make will do the exact same. They will run the old Roland styles on their KORG, or whatever.

So, while this is a breach of copyright law, it benefits the manufactures to just look the other way and let this happen, so long as you don't convert a flagship arranger the second it's out.

Hope that makes sense to you ?.

Kind Regards.
James.

[This message has been edited by Irishacts (edited 07-03-2007).]