# Weird Merch Idea... Would this be Legal?



## scottro202 (Mar 16, 2014)

So, say I'm a band and I want to sell a little package that includes a wristband, a lighter with the artist's name on it (I have no formal project atm so we'll call them "the Widgets" for you econ majors out there ). And you also include a USB drive with the Widget's latest album on there. And, you could have packages with the songs in WAV, FLAC, MP3, etc. that all include the lighter and wristband. And for the FLAC one, I could throw in a copy of VLC player (a free media player software that supports FLAC since iTunes and such don't support it.). You could wrap the wristband around the lighter and usb drive and make it real pretty. We'll get the drummer's girlfriend to handle that. So, the drummers right hand *ba dum tsh.*

Now, my question is, since I'm charging for the lighter and the music and the Flash stick, would I get in any trouble for including the free VLC software on there? Like, could they sue me for selling their product or something along those lines?

I'm no lawyer nor an economist I'm just a guitarist so any insight is appreciated


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## coffeeflush (Mar 16, 2014)

Nope.Its open source. So you can. 
Also, there is always foobar2000


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## scottro202 (Mar 16, 2014)

Cnet hosts a download for it and they probably get ad money, which is essentially the same thing just replace my songs + merch with advertisement space. So, by that logic I guess I'd be in the clear right? Cause Cnet hasn't had any problems as far as I know.


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## Given To Fly (Mar 16, 2014)

I would research this more and talk to a lawyer if possible. It seems like it would be fine but then again you are making money off a "free" product, even though it makes up a tiny portion of what you are offering. 

I think you have a good product idea which is why you should make sure its all kosher with the law.


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## asher (Mar 16, 2014)

All else fails, I think you could drop FLAC (or the software) without *too* much issue... most people probably aren't going to have the listening hardware to discern any difference.

Alternately, you could always add a little text file with a link to VLC for people who can't play it already.


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## scottro202 (Mar 16, 2014)

asher said:


> Alternately, you could always add a little text file with a link to VLC for people who can't play it already.



That's actually a great idea!  That way I'm simply pointing them to download the program in the same way Google did for me when I searched "Flac player"

And yeah, most people probably don't care enough since they'll be listening to it on iPod headphones or whatever, but for those who will they'll probably really dig it, especially if it's the same price as the MP3 option.


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## Given To Fly (Mar 16, 2014)

asher said:


> All else fails, I think you could drop FLAC (or the software) without *too* much issue... most people probably aren't going to have the listening hardware to discern any difference.
> 
> Alternately, you could always add a little text file with a link to VLC for people who can't play it already.



You could tell people they need to buy the listening hardware.  JK But seriously, its like pulling teeth to convince people to spend money on high quality video and audio equipment, yet once they do, I've never heard anyone say the regret it.


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## rectifryer (Mar 16, 2014)

This is exactly what open source is for.


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## coffeeflush (Mar 17, 2014)

So, foobar is legal to distribute and so is VLC as long as you give credit to the developers and specify that the package cost does not include the programs and that they are free to use and distribute as long as the developer gets credit.


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## neotronic (Mar 17, 2014)

Yes you can redistribute vlc as you will, but you must include a copy of GPL licence (GNU General Public License v2.0 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation) and source code for the software (a simple file cointainng a http link pointing to the source code is sufficient as internet download is customarily used for software interchange).

See VideoLAN - Legal for further information.


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## 3trv5u (Mar 25, 2014)

You can just include a .txt file with a D/L link to VLC.


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## AdenM (Mar 27, 2014)

I feel like the VLC thing is a nonissue because the people who would be interested in buying a FLAC version of said album are most likely knowledgable about various audio formats and have VLC already.


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## noUser01 (Mar 30, 2014)

Let's be honest though, the people who want the FLAC version are probably the people who already know how to play FLAC on their computers. I don't think it would be an issue, and leaving VLC off of the package would make things feel more legit and more about your band, you know? "Mixed goods" in a package can sometimes be off-putting, it is to me anyways, certainly can't speak for anyone else.


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## JonusGrumby (Apr 9, 2014)

Another thing to consider, to draw any heat away from you--get your taxpayer ID number.
If you're selling merch in a public place, your state may require a taxpayer ID.


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