Insuring Sample Libraries

[unconscious sound]

Hi, everyone. I've been checking out various insurance companies on the web for my home studio. Do you guys know which ones will cover sample libraries? I'm looking at Clarion Insurance right now. I read their insurance policy, but it is not clear as to exactly WHAT a musical instrument IS. I'm sending them a list of my gear to see if they will insure the samples.

Has anyone ever had to file a claim for lost or stolen samples? What were the results of those claims, if any?

Thanks!
Mike

[Nick Batzdorf]

Software is the same as hardware as far as they're concerned. The main issue is whether your instruments are considered business equipment or just general property. If it's business equipment, standard homeowner's or renter's insurance won't cover it.

I use ASCAP's MusicPro insurance - it's the least expensive, it covers equipment when it's out of your studio, you can include computer systems, and they understand musical equipment.

The Musician's Union has the same thing, but you have to join the union - which is good if you're orchestrating, but composers are considered management.

[bruceup]

+1 for ASCAP's MusicPro.

http://www.musicproinsurance.com/instr_main.aspx

[FV]

Hi,

Some libraries can be copied for backup and it is, in fact, legal to make a backup copy for yourself. For those, I have backed them up multiple times and have extra copies in an alternate location. That will cover me in the event that I have a fire or am robbed. I have not insured those libraries as I know that I can install from the backups. One thing to note though, is that I won't be covered if we have a major natural disaster in my city as the alternate location is still in my city.

There are some libraries which cannot be copied. I own Culture which requires a dongle. Others have their media formatted/burned in such a way that it is impossible to copy them. I own Arturia's Minimoog VSTi and it's CD cannot be copied for example. For those libs, I include them in my insurance coverage.

FV

[FV]

Hi,


The main issue is whether your instruments are considered business equipment or just general property. If it's business equipment, standard homeowner's or renter's insurance won't cover it.

Even if it's not business equipment (ie it is just a hobby, albeit expensive one), it doesn't take a long time to have an investment of $10,000 or more on sample libs, especially over time. Even though your homeowner's policy may cover it, you're still best to find out, before a problem, what will be covered and what won't. I had a policy at one time where, anything over a certain dollar amount for computer equipment would not be covered and I needed to add it to my policy. I changed to one that was more flexible - point being that policies can vary and it is best to know exactly what you've got covered and what you don't.

HTH,
FV

[Nick Batzdorf]

FWIW I have about $30K worth of coverage through MusicPro, and it's in the $300/year range. If your homeowner's insurance will cover business equipment, it will require a floater that's much more expensive than that.

Trust me, I've done the research, and what I've ended up with is the best deal. :)

[Hoff]

There are two sides to licensing sounds. We spend a lot of time talking about our restrictions of use and and the rights of developers, but this is a subject where the user has rights. When we "buy" a library, we're buying the right to use those sounds in our compositions. The costs of the packaging, physical CDs/DVDs, marketing and support are all business expenses of the developer. If you are a registered user of a library and your physical disks are destroyed by a disaster, you still have the right to use those sounds, and a reputable developer should be willing to replace the lost disks for a nominal charge (cost of the discs) and postage. Legally, you should not have to re-license the intellectual property just because your physical copy was damaged.
That said, I still always copy the discs and store the back-ups elsewhere for safety. Hopefully this will prevent this issue from arising. I insure all of my hardware but based on my attorney's advice, I don't insure the llibraries.

[Brian2112]

There are two sides to licensing sounds. We spend a lot of time talking about our restrictions of use and and the rights of developers, but this is a subject where the user has rights. When we "buy" a library, we're buying the right to use those sounds in our compositions. The costs of the packaging, physical CDs/DVDs, marketing and support are all business expenses of the developer. If you are a registered user of a library and your physical disks are destroyed by a disaster, you still have the right to use those sounds, and a reputable developer should be willing to replace the lost disks for a nominal charge (cost of the discs) and postage. Legally, you should not have to re-license the intellectual property just because your physical copy was damaged.
That said, I still always copy the discs and store the back-ups elsewhere for safety. Hopefully this will prevent this issue from arising. I insure all of my hardware but based on my attorney's advice, I don't insure the llibraries.

I believe this is correct. I grabbed my libraries on my Texas evacuation trip, but I think developers would have no problems in replacing your discs for the cost of shipping (and maybe a few cents for the dupe). Still, I'm going to check into what the Ape said. I have been looking for this kind of thing forever and most were just too $$$.

...2112:)

[Garritan]

We have replaced some CDs to people affected by the recent disaster. One good thing about online registration is that there is an online record of serial numbers. The cost of the media is nominal and the serial number is on record. If you registered you should be able to get replacements from the companies you purchased them from.

Gary Garritan

[southas]

Hi, everyone. I've been checking out various insurance companies on the web for my home studio. Do you guys know which ones will cover sample libraries? I'm looking at Clarion Insurance right now. I read their insurance policy, but it is not clear as to exactly WHAT a musical instrument IS. I'm sending them a list of my gear to see if they will insure the samples.

Has anyone ever had to file a claim for lost or stolen samples? What were the results of those claims, if any?

Thanks!
Mike


Very interesting question man! We all insure our recording gear, so why not our sample cd's....I will definetly be watching this thread.

[unconscious sound]

Has anyone gone through Clarion Insurance? If so, have you or someone you know had to file a claim with them? What were the results? Thanks to everyone participating on this thread. I think it's something we should all consider (insurance, I mean.)

Mike

[Nick Batzdorf]

I used to have Clarion a long time ago, but MusicPro is less expensive. Ditto for the insurance through the Musician's Union, even after you add dues to the price.

Question: are you willing to bet that, say, Apple Computer is going to be as nice as Gary if you lose Logic in a hurricane?

Then it's worth $10 a year to insure it.

***

The one time I had to collect from an insurance company was a few years ago when I accepted what turned out to be a bogus cashier's check for a mixer I'd "sold." It took four months of investigation and proving that I don't defaud insurance companies for a career before I got reimbursed. Nowadays they have a clause saying that they don't cover transactions gone bad, but I was still glad I had it.

On the other hand, it was a thoroughly miserable experience and I hope nobody has to go through that.

This was the insurance through the Musician's Union, not MusicPro, but I suspect that no insurance company is going to be completely sanguine about paying out. On the other hand, Farmer's was absolutely great after the '94 earthquake, so maybe I'm being overly cynical.

[Gamera]

One of my best friends for over 20 years, who does super high-end corporate insurance, says Music Pro looks good. I think I'm gonna get a quote...

- G

[JohnnyP]

What Nick and Bruce said,

Less than a week after Katrina, Music Pro emailed me about a claim and made sure they had a forwarding address. I was pretty impressed seeing that some insurace companies are so slow in the gulf.