# Ghost Core End User License Agreement **Agreement version:** 1.0 **Effective date:** September 30, 2026 **Licensor:** Subfiction LLC ("ghostVST") **Legal notices:** support@subfiction.com; 100 W Big Beaver Rd. Suite 200, Troy, MI 48084 ## 1. Parties, software, and acceptance This End User License Agreement ("Agreement") is between ghostVST and the individual or organization accepting it ("you" or "Licensee"). "Software" means the proprietary Ghost Core audio plugin suite, including its Ghost Rack interface, effects, factory presets, accompanying files, and documentation. Included third-party components may also be governed by separate licenses under Section 6. "Ghost Manager" is ghostVST's optional software-management application; "Ghost Services" is ghostVST's distribution and account backend. An "Official Channel" is a ghostVST-operated website, Ghost Manager using an authorized Ghost Services acquisition flow, or a partner expressly authorized by ghostVST and identified through an official ghostVST channel. Before acquiring the Software through an Official Channel, you must have access to the applicable Agreement text and version and affirmatively accept it. The channel may retain evidence of acceptance as described in its privacy notice. No account is required for direct website downloads. If you do not agree, do not acquire or use the Software. A person accepting for an organization represents authority to bind it. An individual accepting personally must have legal capacity to contract or act through an authorized representative where lawful. Ghost Manager is optional. Official archives must include this Agreement and required third-party notices. A copy obtained through unauthorized redistribution does not itself confer a license; a recipient may obtain the Software and accept this Agreement through an Official Channel. ## 2. Proprietary freeware license and permitted use Subject to this Agreement, including Section 11, ghostVST grants Licensee a nonexclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to acquire, install, make reasonable backup copies of, and use the Software on any number of computers or computing environments Licensee owns or lawfully controls. Simultaneous use is permitted. There are no device-count limits, subscriptions, mandatory accounts, or product-activation requirements. Section 8 addresses offline and network behavior. You may use the Software for personal or commercial music creation, recording, mixing, mastering, live performance, broadcasting, film, television, games, installations, education, and audio rendering. Ordinary remote and cloud rendering is permitted when Licensee lawfully controls the environment. You may not offer Ghost Core as a standalone hosted plugin service, embed or bundle it in another distributed product, or distribute Software copies except as authorized. An organizational Licensee may allow employees, contractors, students, clients, and other authorized persons to operate properly installed copies within its controlled environments, including shared workstations. The organization is responsible for their compliance while acting under its authorization. Such persons gain no independent redistribution rights. The Software is licensed, not sold. ghostVST and relevant rights holders retain their intellectual-property rights. Assignment and device migration are addressed in Section 14. ## 3. Official distribution and restrictions You may freely share links to Official Channels. Except for reasonable backups, permitted installations and organizational use under Section 2, preset sharing under Section 5, nonwaivable legal rights, or separate written permission from ghostVST, you may not upload, mirror, host, publish, furnish, sublicense, sell, rent, lease, or distribute Software binaries or archives, modified or unmodified. Only ghostVST and its expressly authorized partners may distribute Software copies to new recipients. Partners must follow their written authorization, including approved EULA presentation and acceptance. Commercial permission to use Ghost Core is not permission to redistribute it. ## 4. Software restrictions and lawful exceptions Except as expressly permitted by Section 5 or applicable law notwithstanding contractual restrictions, you may not: (a) reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Software; (b) modify or create derivative software from protected code or proprietary software components; (c) extract or reuse protected code, DSP implementations, or proprietary software assets in separate software; (d) circumvent security or integrity controls actually used by the Software or authentication and authorization controls of optional Official Channels; (e) remove proprietary notices from Software copies; or (f) knowingly assist others in these acts. This Section does not prohibit permitted preset editing and sharing, independent development, legally protected interoperability, or use of ideas and methods not protected by intellectual-property law. Ghost Core itself requires no product activation. ## 5. Creative output and preset sharing You retain rights in your original compositions, recordings, performances, projects, and other creative work produced using Ghost Core. ghostVST claims no royalties, fees, or ownership interests merely because you used the Software. You may commercially exploit that output without permission from ghostVST. If Ghost Core includes factory samples, impulse responses, or other licensed audio material, you may incorporate that material as processed or combined elements in finished audio or audiovisual productions, subject to identified third-party terms. You may not distribute source assets alone or as a substitute asset library. This provision does not imply such assets ship in every release. **Express exception to Sections 3 and 4:** You may create, edit, share, publish, and sell your original presets, individual factory presets (including unmodified presets), modified factory presets, and collections of original or customized presets. To the extent necessary, ghostVST licenses its rights in factory preset configuration data for those activities. You may not reproduce or repackage the complete factory preset library, or a substantial portion of it, as a replacement for the official library. Ordinary sharing of individual presets and collaborative selections remains permitted. Preset rights do not authorize redistribution of plugin binaries, executable code, samples, impulse responses, artwork, or other non-preset protected assets, or imply ghostVST endorsement. Third-party rights remain applicable. ## 6. Third-party components and notices Ghost Core may include third-party components. Their applicable licenses govern those components to the extent required; this Agreement does not override them or restrict open-source rights or mandatory law. Required notices and license texts accompany official distributions in a clearly identified NOTICE, THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES, or equivalent location. ## 7. Updates, support, and other products ghostVST may, but need not, provide updates, fixes, support, or future releases. Compatibility with future operating systems, audio hosts, plugin formats, and hardware is not guaranteed. Discontinuing distribution or development does not terminate a compliant Licensee's existing license. An update acquired under the same identified Agreement version remains governed by that Agreement. A revised Agreement applies to an update or new acquisition only if presented and affirmatively accepted before acquisition; publication alone does not retroactively change existing licenses. This Agreement grants no rights to separate commercial ghostVST products, separately licensed modules, Ghost SDK components, or other software governed by its own terms. ## 8. Offline operation, privacy, and separate services Ghost Core is designed for local operation without mandatory online activation, independent background connections to ghostVST, usage telemetry, or transmission of audio or DAW-session content to ghostVST. These characteristics apply to Ghost Core itself, not a DAW, operating system, cloud host, or other software. They are express product characteristics and are not withdrawn by Section 9. The ghostVST website, Ghost Manager, and Ghost Services are separate services that may process account, download, agreement-acceptance, and support information as disclosed in applicable privacy notices. Those services are not required for normal operation of an already acquired Ghost Core copy. Relevant privacy notices must be available when personal information is collected. ## 9. Warranty disclaimer Except for express license permissions and product characteristics stated in this Agreement, and to the maximum extent permitted by law, the Software is supplied **"AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE"**, without other express, implied, or statutory warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and noninfringement. ghostVST does not promise error-free operation, correction of defects, or suitability for a particular project. This disclaimer does not negate express commitments or nonwaivable rights and remedies. ## 10. Limitation of liability To the maximum extent permitted by law, ghostVST and its officers, employees, contractors, and third-party software suppliers or licensors involved in providing the Software ("Protected Parties") are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive, or consequential damages, including lost revenue, business interruption, or lost or corrupted recordings, projects, or data, arising from the Software or this Agreement, even if advised of the possibility. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the **combined aggregate liability of all Protected Parties for all claims relating to the Software or this Agreement is limited to US $100 in total**, not $100 per party or claim. Protected Parties other than ghostVST are intended third-party beneficiaries solely of this Section and may invoke its protections where legally permitted. Nothing excludes or limits liability that applicable law does not permit to be excluded or limited, including, where non-excludable, death or personal injury, fraud, gross negligence, intentional misconduct, or mandatory statutory remedies. ## 11. Term and termination The license is perpetual unless validly terminated for material breach under this Section. You may stop using Ghost Core and delete your copies at any time. A material breach is a substantial violation of a central obligation, such as unauthorized distribution of Software binaries, misappropriation of protected software components, or deliberate circumvention of applicable security controls. A minor technical deviation alone is not automatically material. If a material breach can reasonably be cured and ghostVST can reasonably contact you, ghostVST will give written notice describing it and allow 30 days after receipt under Section 14 to cure it. Timely cure prevents termination for that noticed breach. For a breach not reasonably capable of cure, ghostVST may terminate by written notice where legally permitted. If a breaching Licensee cannot reasonably be identified or contacted, ghostVST may pursue legal remedies and assert termination without prior individual notice only to the extent permitted by law. Compliant licenses cannot be terminated arbitrarily. Valid termination ends the license to use Ghost Core. You must stop using and delete copies, subject to mandatory legal retention rights. Termination does not affect ownership or lawful exploitation of previously created output or retroactively prohibit presets previously shared lawfully; it does not authorize new factory-derived preset distribution after termination. Sections 3–4 (for continuing protection of rights), 5 (for previously created output and lawfully shared presets), 6, 9–10, 12–15, and obligations intended by their nature to continue survive to the extent enforceable. ## 12. Governing law and disputes Except where mandatory law provides otherwise, Michigan law governs this Agreement without applying conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to nonwaivable consumer and jurisdictional rights, disputes arising under this Agreement must be brought exclusively in state courts in Oakland County, Michigan, or, where federal jurisdiction exists, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Each party consents to personal jurisdiction there to the extent permitted by law. There is no mandatory arbitration or contractual class-action waiver. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply. Mandatory consumer protections and legally required alternative forums remain unaffected. ## 13. Export compliance and government users You must comply with applicable export-control and sanctions laws when acquiring, using, or transferring the Software. For U.S. government end users, the Software and documentation are licensed as commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation, subject to mandatory procurement rules. ## 14. Trademarks, assignment, and notices You may identify Ghost Core truthfully, but receive no license to ghostVST trademarks, logos, or branding that implies endorsement without authorization. You may move or reinstall permitted copies among computers or environments you lawfully control. A Licensee may assign this Agreement to a successor in a bona fide merger, reorganization, or sale of substantially all relevant business assets if the successor assumes its obligations; other assignments require ghostVST's prior written consent unless law provides otherwise. These permissions do not authorize independent redistribution. ghostVST may assign this Agreement with the relevant business or Ghost Core assets if the successor assumes its obligations; this does not itself revoke valid licenses. Send notices to ghostVST using the legal contact information above. If ghostVST has a reliable contact email or postal address for you, it may send individual breach notices there. Email notice is deemed received the next business day after successful transmission absent a delivery-failure notice or reliable evidence of non-delivery; tracked postal notice is received upon recorded delivery. Mandatory notice rules control where applicable. General website announcements alone are not individual breach notices. ## 15. General provisions If a provision is unenforceable, a court may modify it only to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable where legally permitted; otherwise it is severed and the remainder remains effective to the extent lawful. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. Headings are for convenience. This Agreement is the entire agreement between Licensee and ghostVST concerning Ghost Core and supersedes prior or contemporaneous communications on that subject, but does not displace third-party licenses, mandatory rights, or separate agreements for distinct products or relationships. Ghost Manager or Ghost Services terms do not amend it without the applicable affirmative acceptance process. No third party may enforce it except the limited Protected Party rights in Section 10 or as required by law. English controls to the extent lawful, subject to mandatory translation and language rights. Nothing limits a right or remedy that cannot lawfully be waived.