Warning: Potential Legal Trap – Use with Extreme Caution
This app seems interesting, but it has a HUGE legal problem. The Terms of Use are dangerously vague about who owns the lyrics generated by the app: you or them.
Here’s exactly what their Terms say:
1. "Our apps are provided for your personal, non-commercial use only."
2. "All content, features, and functionality in our apps (including text, graphics, logos, and software) are the property of Angel Applications... You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of our apps."
Since the lyrics are generated by the app, and "all content... including text" belongs to them, it is reasonable to assume they are claiming ownership of the lyrics. And because the app is for "non-commercial use only," selling a song that contains these lyrics would violate their terms.
That means:
· If you write a song using these lyrics and it becomes a hit or earns money, the developer could sue you.
· In court, they would argue you broke their terms and used their property commercially without permission.
· Without an explicit written statement from them saying "You own all rights to the lyrics generated by this app," you are taking a serious legal risk.
The fact that their terms do NOT clearly state you own the lyrics is a red flag. Other apps explicitly grant you rights. This one does not.
To the developers: Be clear. State plainly whether users own the lyrics your platform generate or you do. If you don't, you are intentionally or carelessly setting users up for potential legal trouble. Which opens the door for a countersue. If the user owns the rights to the lyrics, then you MUST include a standard Output Ownership clause. You must also clarify the "Our apps are provided for your personal, non-commercial use only,” part. Using the lyrics to make song and then use it in a video you upload in YouTube, and YouTube pays the user for views, that could be considered “commercial use.”
Unless you clary this and explicitly give the user (remember, they paying you to use the app) the legals right to the lyrics, your service is nothing more than a cheap novelty that serious amateur or professional (I don’t believe a pro would be using this, but just for the sake of argument) song writer could use.
For the user: Think carefully before using this app for any song you might ever want to sell or share commercially. It’s not worth the trouble. Learn to write your own lyrics or find an app that gives you the right to the lyrics generated by the platform. Make sure you take screen shots of where it says that in their term of use and/or app description. Copy and paste it and keep it in a safe place. Remember that they can always change their policies without notifying you.
Here’s exactly what their Terms say:
1. "Our apps are provided for your personal, non-commercial use only."
2. "All content, features, and functionality in our apps (including text, graphics, logos, and software) are the property of Angel Applications... You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of our apps."
Since the lyrics are generated by the app, and "all content... including text" belongs to them, it is reasonable to assume they are claiming ownership of the lyrics. And because the app is for "non-commercial use only," selling a song that contains these lyrics would violate their terms.
That means:
· If you write a song using these lyrics and it becomes a hit or earns money, the developer could sue you.
· In court, they would argue you broke their terms and used their property commercially without permission.
· Without an explicit written statement from them saying "You own all rights to the lyrics generated by this app," you are taking a serious legal risk.
The fact that their terms do NOT clearly state you own the lyrics is a red flag. Other apps explicitly grant you rights. This one does not.
To the developers: Be clear. State plainly whether users own the lyrics your platform generate or you do. If you don't, you are intentionally or carelessly setting users up for potential legal trouble. Which opens the door for a countersue. If the user owns the rights to the lyrics, then you MUST include a standard Output Ownership clause. You must also clarify the "Our apps are provided for your personal, non-commercial use only,” part. Using the lyrics to make song and then use it in a video you upload in YouTube, and YouTube pays the user for views, that could be considered “commercial use.”
Unless you clary this and explicitly give the user (remember, they paying you to use the app) the legals right to the lyrics, your service is nothing more than a cheap novelty that serious amateur or professional (I don’t believe a pro would be using this, but just for the sake of argument) song writer could use.
For the user: Think carefully before using this app for any song you might ever want to sell or share commercially. It’s not worth the trouble. Learn to write your own lyrics or find an app that gives you the right to the lyrics generated by the platform. Make sure you take screen shots of where it says that in their term of use and/or app description. Copy and paste it and keep it in a safe place. Remember that they can always change their policies without notifying you.
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