The GPL and soundfonts

[Andrew Sidwell <takkaria@gmail.com>]

I have a question somewhat related to something mentioned here a short
while ago.

If someone releases a song in MIDI form under the GPLv2, and I use
non-GPL'd tools (e.g. a shareware licence) and royalty-free instrumental
samples to produce a high-quality WAV version of the original MIDI, can
I legally release that under the GPLv2?

The GPLv2, section 3, states:
  "However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need
   not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source
   or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so
   on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless
   that component itself accompanies the executable."

I take it that audio production software is not a major component of the
operating system, and based on this, I can only assume that if one wants
to distribute high-quality versions of MIDI files which are under the
GPLv2, one is restricted to an entirely free toolchain.

Would others agree with this reading?


Andrew Sidwell