Please read the entire terms and conditions before using any of the software in the Rock Band Customs Project. We'll attempt to explain this in as clear english as possible, to avoid most legalese used in documents like this.
ATTENTION: Copyright laws vary from country to country. Some countries reject copyright altogether, while others are very strict about it. Please check your local laws before using this software. By using this software and any services provided by this project on your console of choice, you agree to use unauthorized software on your console, without the consent of Harmonix or their affiliates. You also agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions, which apply to all software and services offered by the Rock Band Customs Project, wherever it may reside.
A Notice for Partner Sites: The term "DLC" (Downloadable Content) is mentioned all throughout this project, but it can mean both official DLC (made by Harmonix) and custom-made DLC (made by Rock Band fans). For sites which do not promote downloading official DLC via means other than the Music Store (considered "warez" or "piracy" by those sites), any reference to the acronym "DLC" throughout our wikis, snippets, software, and other places in our GitLab Group, will ONLY mean custom-made DLC for those sites. If you are an administrator of a site we have a presence on, and have concerns about our GitLab Group, please reach out to us through your site or via Discord, and we will do our best to resolve any issues you may have with us.
Most of the software provided by the Rock Band Customs Project in the GitLab repositories are free to use always, and have open-source licenses associated with them. However there is some software (such as the DLC Packers in the Wii - vWii - Dolphin) that contains a very small fraction of copyrighted material by Harmonix and affiliates. In other words, for functionality purposes, some software we are freely distributing to everyone via GitLab was made by the joint venture of Harmonix and the companies that made the systems which Rock Band titles are available on, with some of the content modified and licensed by other companies for Harmonix to use. It was by no means intended to be part of what is considered homebrew, which is the method of exploiting a console in order to execute unofficial software onto it. However, no song data of any kind (MIDIs, audio files, etc.), except for user-made song data or lists of songs available for certain platforms, are offered via our GitLab repositories. Because it is such a small part of the Rock Band Customs Project GitLab presence, we feel that we can freely share our repo to anyone, even those who would be against the redistribution of official DLC.
Because our GitLab Group is shared on sites where discussion on official DLC is not allowed, you are required NOT to discuss about, nor share, official DLC that has been downloaded anywhere but the Music Store, or software that can download the DLC, within issues, comments, or anywhere else within the GitLab Group. You may not seek assistance on official DLC unless you have bought it legitimately via the Music Store on platforms we allow discussion of.
In this GitLab Group, we allow discussion of Rock Band custom songs, DLC bought from the Music Store, and any hacks that do not involve piracy ONLY for the following platforms: Wii, Wii Family Edition, Wii Mini, Wii U (Wii Mode), Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Dolphin (only for custom DLC or DLC that was imported from where you bought it from the Music Store), and RPCS3 (only for custom DLC or DLC that was imported from where you bought it from the Music Store). We allow discussion of custom DLC, DLC bought from the Rock Band Music Store, and any hacks that do not involve piracy ONLY for the following video games in this GitLab Group: Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Rock Band 3, Rock Band Track Packs (all of them), LEGO Rock Band, The Beatles: Rock Band, Green Day: Rock Band, Rock Band Blitz (if bought from the console where it was originally available on).
Our Rock Band Customs Project Discord server has been made available to cover more than our GitLab Group allows, and thus bypasses certain restrictions that are present on forum sites. Therefore, we recommend that members of our Discord server read this section thoroughly.
#off-topic, but support on such games will be very limited).More rules for our Discord server can be found in the #rules channel of the server.
FretsOnFire Fan Forum is a site dedicated to the opensource, free-to-play game FretsOnFire, a game similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. There is also a program based on FretsOnFire called Phase Shift. The forum site offers Phase Shift converts of Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and other music games' disc content and DLC, as well as conversions of complete albums of artists which are still being sold online and in stores. These are intended for the game Phase Shift, so while it is possible to convert them with our software and use them as Rock Band DLC, they may not work as intended, and thus are not fully protected by Harmonix copyright. We recommend using our software for custom songs, abandoned DLC, or DLC bought from the Music Store; however, the link is provided on the Sites page at your disposal.
There are various reasons why we believe we are helping Harmonix preserve older Rock Band editions.
Harmonix worked hard on these games. By paying for content that is made available on consoles and other platforms where Harmonix games are found, instead of trying to obtain them for free, you are supporting Harmonix and all of their affiliates and helping them make better games and other media for us to experience. We NEVER suggest selling DLC, not even custom songs, and especially if pirated. Selling DLC, unless instructed to by Harmonix and its partners, is illegal in most countries, and can result in fines or imprisonment.
The purpose of this project is not to hack games by Harmonix and have paid DLC for free, but to resurrect older Rock Band games previously supported by Harmonix and restore the functionality that Harmonix' services used to provide. It also enhances the experience by allowing user-made content to be played on various Rock Band titles, even more current ones. It benefits the reputation of Harmonix and its games by giving the creative people who never had their works published on the Rock Band Network the tools they need to make their songs work on Rock Band, and even share them on websites which allow the free distribution of custom songs (i.e. C3 Forums on Rhythm Gaming World), if they so desire.
This project aims to restore the functionality of Online Play where it now has become obsolete and discontinued, using alternative methods to reconnect to official Rock Band Central servers, or to connect to alternative homebrew servers that are maintained by individuals who are passionate about video games. By doing this, players who are interested in older Rock Band titles will be able to play with each other remotely once more.
Peripherals for past Rock Band games, such as the Rock Band 3 Keytar, do not exist in later versions, and later Rock Band editions have not been made backwards compatible with these music-instrument-type game controllers. Also, older games, such as The Beatles: Rock Band, have content which has not been made available in later Rock Band editions. Therefore, our goal is not to take away from the Rock Band experience, but to preserve it for generations to come.
The following is about Harmonix properties and how the Rock Band Customs Project handles these properties.
The Rock Band Customs Project is by no means affiliated with Harmonix Music Systems, inc. We are not compensated for our work with Rock Band hacks by Harmonix or any of its partners, nor do we accept donations through PayPal or by other means. Those who are involved with the Rock Band Customs Project do not get funded for their submissions, although they may accept donations for other works outside of the project.
The Rock Band logo is a trademark of Harmonix, however due to its simplistic design, has not been protected by copyright according to WikiMedia. All images related to Rock Band and other Harmonix properties that are used to represent the Rock Band Customs Project have been modified from their original designs, and thus are not protected by copyright or trademark.
All songs used within the games, unless otherwise mentioned, are protected by copyright laws, and are copyrighted by their respective music labels and artists. This includes songs shared as DLC on the Music Store, the Rock Band Network and on Rock Band Rivals. We encourage players of Rock Band to buy the Rock Band DLC where available. If you have concerns about DLC and Harmonix games that are no longer available, please reach out to us via a private message on Discord or one of the forum sites we have a presence on.
If you have questions or concerns regarding our Terms and Conditions, you are welcome to reach out to us through Discord. The current working invite can be found at the top of any web page we own. To find out who to contact, go to the About Us link below.
These terms and conditions became active September 16th, 2019 and were last updated April 29th, 2021.
The Rock Band Customs Project 2019-2022. This site was created using GitLab Pages.
Images used are copyrights and trademarks of their respective corporations. Images used from Pexels: Background "rock band" photo by Thibault Trillet.