Beat Saber: Why Custom Maps Cannot Be Made With Legally Obtained Commercial Music
Custom maps in Beat Saber are illegal. When you download a custom map or song for Beat Saber, you are party to a crime (in most countries). Every custom map has map data files — and an audio file of music which is most likely copyrighted. Neither the mapper nor the player has the legal rights to transport that song. I often hear people talking about how Beat Saber needs to hook into Spotify or Amazon; some LEGAL source of music for custom maps. It isn’t that simple.
Note: Based on responses to this article, I’d like to clarify this article uses the term “legal music” as an acquisition method — not as a rights management scenario. Yes, you could make a Beat Saber custom map with a public domain song (aka legal music). A song being stored and accessible by YouTube or Spotify does not imply licensing or usage rights — nor does purchasing an MP3 off of Amazon.
There are dozens of ways to “obtain music” that are considered legal; lots of it is streaming (Spotify, Pandora) some of it is downloaded (you can get MP3s from Amazon) — and sure, in some countries you can rip your OWN musical library from CDs to whatever format you like.
So — the question is, why can’t a mapper create the “legal” data and let the PLAYER choose the music source instead of partaking in…
