Unfortunate News for Bardic Tools
Hello folks!
I have unfortunate news. As you may know, a lot of the sound effects from The Library come from Pixabay, a repository of sounds. It has recently come to my attention that Bardic Tools may be in breach of their Licensing agreement. I thought I understood the licensing terms, and Bardic Tools was covered under one of their FAQ clarifications, but people with more experience than me have let me know that this may not be the case.
I have contacted Pixabay to get an explicit Yes or No on using their sounds. So far, they haven't answered.
What this means for you
It is very important to me that we respect the wishes of the artists contributing to Bardic Tools. Essentially, I don't want to use anyone's hard work without their permission.
Unfortunately, this means that I'll have to:
- Remove access to Pixabay sounds from The Library for now.
- In addition, I will remove access to premade scenes, as they rely heavily on those sounds.
- Lastly, in the coming days I will disable Pixabay sounds from existing boards.
I deeply apologize for the inconvenience. You can read more about how I will address this below, but I wanted to offer three free months for Bardic Tools as an apology. You can redeem it until the 28th of February, by going to this address:
Get 3 Free Months, on me, as an apology: https://bardic.tools/gift/LIBRARY
What I'm doing about it
Solving this issue will be my only priority until The Library is as useful as it was before, if not more.
I've already agreed on a license with other sound effects providers, and I'm actively looking for other sources of sound effects.
In the meantime, here is what I will do, in order:
- First, find replacement for the sounds used in premade scenes. Incidentally, this will give me a chance to revisit old scenes that were made before we had fancy Ambience controls, and make them so much better.
- Then, I will search for replacement for the other Library sounds. I can't promise I'll find 1:1 replacements for all of them, but I will endeavor to find at least as many sounds.
- I'll search for foley artists that are open for commissions, so that I can commission custom sound effects in the future, to avoid depending on third parties.
- I will not trust my understanding of music licenses. Instead, I will only add sounds from sources that give me explicit permission to redistribute until I have the budget to find appropriate legal counsel.
I apologize for this mistake. Licensing for sound is much more complicated than I thought it was, and Bardic Tools falls in a very uncomfortable gray area. But one thing remains vital: I don't want to infringe in any artist's rights. So, if in doubt, I will always opt for not including sounds.
As always, I'm available at borja@bardic.tools, or through our Discord for any questions.
Thank you for your support so far. This is a bump in the road, but I still believe that Bardic Tools can be the best, most delightful sound tool for RPGs out there.
Best regards,
Borja