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A Close Look at the Autodesk 2012 EULA

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The Blender Foundation took a close look at Maya's "End User License Agreement" (EULA) and found some interesting things. Did you know, for example, that Autodesk gives themselves the right to inspect your system, facilities and records?

These licenses really look awful and they serve only one purpose: to protect the company (and to generate huge bills for the lawyers, I guess). In contrast, Blender's GPL license serves to protect YOUR rights (that is: both the developers who contribute AND the end users). That's an amazing difference. If you only used Open Source software so far because it's free (as in beer), think again!

Read on: Autodesk 2012 EULA

Photograph: 'prisoner' by vmiramontes

About the Author

Avatar image for Bart Veldhuizen
Bart Veldhuizen

I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Head of Community at Sketchfab.

84 Comments

  1. So i'am reaaaaaally happy to use Blender instead of these softwares.... :D
    I'have tried XSI & a bit Maya and I don't like both. I don't know if it's because I started to learn 3D with Blender
    but I find Blender a lot more simple to interact with and also much more ergonomic to use.

    BTW I'm sure 90% of people do not read EULA like me and the EULA creators know that,
    it's easy for them to put constraints while being sure that we'll never know..

    And when they says inspect the system, does it mean that they soft contains a spyware ?

  2. Compared to many free Applications included with malware and spyware?
    Or Open-Source Projects with back-doors?

    I've learned nothing is for free.

    I reckon blender is financed by European tax money?

    If you have a company in Europe you already know regular software audits!

    Relax

  3. It depends where you are in the world whether that form of "agreement" is enforceable or not. In this country (Australia) such a wholesale signing away of rights may contravene federal consumer rights legislation.

    In any case they would be foolish to try. The only people who've agreed to their EULA are the people who have legally bought their software. Are they going to randomly search people's houses on the off chance that they're pirates?

    I really think that such an EULA is more of a legal "shot across the bows" than an enforceable agreement. As a one-time software developer I have complete sympathy with their efforts to attack piracy. I'm just not sure that this will achieve that end.

  4. Oh dear! You know posting stuff like this is only going to start a large angry debate!

    But I agree, corp licences can be pretty evil when you get into the small print.

  5. Grandmaster B on

    I said they are evil, didn't I?
    How does it say? "Read the f*cking EULA!"

    How much punch in the balls they customers can take? I know, they have problems with piracy but ironically that's what made them big. Well that and their overpriced products.

  6. the only think i know for sure, is that i love blender- the problem is that big companies use maya or 3ds max, etc, and that sucks. but well. if you want to get a really good job, finally, youwill end learning these softwares. but as i said: i love blender. and i will still using it as the main one no matter what.

  7. Dave Van den Eynde on

    Enclosing an EULA with your software is one thing. Actually enforcing it is another. I don't think it's in Autodesk's best interest to start harassing its customers, especially since the 3D software market is so competitive these days. Ultimately the EULA is indeed about protecting the company and not the users.

    Also, I don't think it's a good idea to instill fear into the hearts and minds of those that are considering using Blender. If anything, Blender gives us more choice, and the fact that it's open source attracts an entire community where everyone benefits and I think that is a better reason to use Blender in lieu of other tools and not the fear of being prosecuted or our privacy invaded.

  8. @BlaBla (surely you chose the right pseudonym to characterize your comments ;-)...)
    Could you please name any free applications/opensource projects with malware,spyware,back-doors - or is this just a biased lie from your part ?
    Blender is financed mainly by its users (buying products from the Blender store as I regularly do since it was bought free in which I participated also with a small sum :)...) and only a very small amount from public grants in the Netherlands which may include an even smaller amount of Euopean tax money) So your reckoning shows only that you are un/misinformed :) ...
    So if you are from "a company in Europe" could you elaborate a little more on what you mean with "regular software audits" ??
    I'll surely relax if that's all what you have to offer against Bart's interesting criticism against Autodesk's user-unfriendly politics (which let me abandon bying from them years ago :( ...)

  9. When I was in software development I used Borland language systems. Their EULA was unique. From memory it went something like "You may use this software like a book. That is, you may install it on as many computers as you like as long as such installations are for your sole personal use."

    I can't guarantee that is the correct wording, but it was along those lines, anyway. It was both the shortest and most down to earth EULA that I can remember.

  10. Hmmmm...I din't know this...but this is not unexpected, such companies don't care about the user (I wonder if they even consider their customers as artists?). They don't even care about the optimization of their own code...In many aspects, Blender is (at least for me, having tested several autodesk products) far superior than them...once you've learned Blender it's like playing a very addictive videogame (Mainly in the modeling process). Plus...it's free, meaning true openess, true freedom, true belonging to something really BIG...we may be called naive by professionals using the mainstream software, but just because we can do the same (If not better) than them, without spending thousands of dollars...and without our computers being inspected by someone. With a learning model (Our communnities, wikis etc.) democratic and freely available, for anyone interested in learning, in creating true art, without discrimination or exclusion of any kind (The software patents are inherently discriminative). There's no "back-doors" here...the Open Source projects (Wheter it's Blender or any other software) it's one of the most pure instances of freedom in the world today. Blender rocks!

    PS forgive me about my poor english :)

  11. @BlaBla

    You are a Troll and I hope you know it. Why? Because every sentence is wrong.

    > Compared to many free Applications included with malware and spyware?
    > Or Open-Source Projects with back-doors?

    No, compared to many free Applications without malware or spyware
    or Open-Source Projects without back-doors?

    Do you know any open source project with an back-door?

    > I’ve learned nothing is for free.

    Then you learned wrong.

    > I reckon blender is financed by European tax money?

    No, it is not.

    > If you have a company in Europe you already know regular software audits!

    No, at least not in company I work.

  12. What I read was "Here are some overly expensive paint brushes, paints, and canvases. Use them to make amazing works of art! But in no way are you allowed to let your friend have a go with them. You're not allowed to take your new tools with you if you travel abroad. If anyone other then you tries to use these paints and tools you must tell us immediately about such misuse. Those forms you just filled in? We're going to give copies of those to anyone we want to. Because you are using our paints and tools we can search your house at any time if we see fit. If you're a student and got these tools with a student discount we automatically own anything you paint. Enjoy!"

    Sounds fishy to me...

  13. The EULA that Ton links to in the Wiki is for the US and Canada. I just downloaded the EULA for the Netherlands buit it's going to take a while to compare them :)

  14. I am more concerned by some of the pricing policies some of the packages use in Europe, some software is 2x more expensive here.

    However I dont think its right for corporations to have policing rights over private individuals, if autodesk suspects that a user is involved in piracy they should contact the regional authorities and it should be up to those authorities, using local law to conduct any investigations or anything else.

  15. Maya is a fantastic and very deep software suite, and I used it (and still do) up to versions 5 & 6 - about the time of the alias / autodesk switchover. Once I got stuck into Maya (£1800 when I bought 5), the maintainance agreement was a big chunk on top which I could not afford, so despite forums in hand, I was basically on my own in terms of trouble shooting. Maya isn't something to busk as it is like climbing a mountain to learn properly. It quickly became obvious that Maya is not really a single user piece of software, it is a studio suite requiring technical team support to make it do all the clever things we see in the media. It is based on a commercial model, and in fairness part of what both Alias and Autodesk have had to deal with is massive amount of cracked bootleg copies out there, so licensing terms and security have always been very tight. I think it is also very had to transfer by sale a license. One of the things that always pissed me off was when transferring a license from one computer to another. To do this for free requires buying the much more expensive floating license. For node-locked licenses, there's a decent fee to pay (over £100). Search rights as part of a license are very draconian, and if Autodesk didn't have such a donminating presence in the industry, consumer pressure would slowly evaporate that. But there are very few robust film quality CG suites, so without push-back they kind of make the rules. As mentioned, I still use Maya for a number of specialised things, but over recent years have migrated over to Blender for commercial work, partly because the commuinity support is so good, and ongoing development so transparent and rapid, but mostly because Blender is actiaually a lot less fuss, and I can get things done quickly in it, so I am very grateful to open source. As marvelous as it undoubtably is, I expect at some point to leave Maya completely behind.

  16. YEAH FIRST TIME I SEE THAT SOMEONE READ THAT AUTODESK SHIT EULA!!! THUMPS UP!!! AND I CAN SAY YOU ARE FULLY RIGHT ITS A SHAME - Autodesk is nothing more like a locust.

  17. I still use XSI 6 which is a great program (especially mental ray) but like MartianR I have no plans to upgrade to xsi 2012 . Blender still has some way to go but it's so very good to use.
    So far as pirate copies are concerned I doubt if Autodesk have lost as much money as they claim as it's mostly pirated by kids that never actually create anything, I would be interested to hear if anyone knows of a commercial venture that was using pirate copies. Blender on the other hand is used by people that actually want to learn and create.
    Thanks

  18. AutoDesk policies are the main reasons for us dropping them at school. If we want to use their software, they are happy to lease it to us at about $4000 per year (at that price, a school isn't going to add any software from a competitor). That gives us a big variety of software to use, but if we want to keep using it, we would need to pay $4000 each and every year or uninstall the software. Back in 2004, we decided to ditch the lease and buy AutoCAD LT 2004 for 2D, SolidWorks for 3D, SoftPlan for architecture and Blender for everything else. Compared to the lease, everything was paid for in 2 years and we get to keep using it. I figure for a high school, software upgrades should take place about every 5 years (of course, we can upgrade Blender always :-)

    We just tried to update AutoCAD LT last year and the price was outrageous! They do not want schools to buy outright anymore- they want the lease.... Well, we switched to ProgeCAD which looks and operates EXACTLY like AutoCAD and they give a license to the school AND STUDENTS for free.

    No more money to the AutoDesk engine from Central Dauphin School District.....

  19. Having that wiki article in the official Blender website is IMHO very bad idea and may backfire. Even if it's based on facts, it's a bad marketing strategy to openly smear your competition.

    "Just do your own stuff."

  20. I agree with concerned. Use Blender because it works for you not because of some EULA that nobdy reads.

    Could I also vote "Just do your own stuff" as the next spalsh screen title.

  21. I have several friends who are engineers who have autodesk software suites such as factory design, plant design, building design and product design on there laptops. They are legitamate copies paid for by there respective companies.

    They travel across borders all the time with work from Ireland, UK, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Denmark to countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Chile, etc. In the present recession in Europe, engineers of all types have to travel the world or sit at home unemployed. That is the reality at present in Europe.

    If Autodesk was to actually enforce that rule alone, they would lose at least 10% of there business, if not more. Actually they would probably be sued by some large engineering-construction companies that are significantly larger than Autodesk, if they tried to enfore that.

    The connection to internet part of Autodesk is becoming annoying for some users. My friend has an autodesk suite on her Fermi-Tesla based machine which constantly tries to connect to the internet. She has the computer disconnected from the internet for reasons of commercial security. The autodesk helpline people keep saying the computer should be connected to the internet. It has crashed mid render due to this problem.

    As for sharing data with 3rd parties. Autodesk has been doing that for some time. it is something that made me uncomfortable with them some years ago, let alone now. That might not be legal in some countries.

    Regarding the right to search premises. In Sweden Autodesk might get away with that. In Ireland they would run into direct opposition and it would most likely be declared an illegal EULA by the courts. What commercial company is going to allow another comerical company to inspect its most secret files on a computer which are financially and commercially sensitive. That part of the EULA is obviously written by someone who has no concept of tort law in any country.

    EULA agreements like that will increase the rate at which people switch to Blender.

    PS: Ton would you please try to ensure 3Dconnexion compatability with the latest versions of Blender. I will buy you a beer someday, if you do:)

    PPS: Or I could send you a good bottle of Scotch whiskey:)

  22. FUN will be there if someday "BIG_commercial_softs" will turn into open source project with business model just like blender foundation...

  23. Matt Heimlich on

    Autodesk can't actually combat piracy. If it weren't for piracy, their legitimate software adoption would also take a huge hit. Everyone I know who works in the 3D industry now started learning with an illegitimate copy of one of Autodesk's software suites. They used to have the PLE to get around this, but since discontinuing it (I think with Maya 8?) there's really no legal option for learning the in's and out's of the technology short of going to an expensive school (not an option for many) or dropping several month's rent on something you're not even guaranteed to understand.

  24. EULA SMEULA.

    In Holland you can say you pressed the "Assect" button but didnt read the EULA rendering the EULA worthless ( proven in court ).

    And in Holland nobody can enter your office without a court order.
    Accept for the BREIN nazi's who are allowed to check your computers whether you're using blender, maya or your mom.

    But... at some point big companies can claim they have the rights to some obvious feature like single-mouse-click, and have other companies using that technic to cancel using it.
    This could effect blender for instance in creating movies with mp3, mp4, h.264.
    Who knows? in singapore a guy has the rights to 'mouse-click' making blender illegal in singapore...

    But as in most of these casses: who cares. Autodesk is not going to fly over to my office to find out I have legal copies of their software. ( claims by dutch companies to the copyright watcher have been granted by court, checking my office is one thing, but if they can't find anything illegal they need to pay for the lost time ).

  25. @ joeri67:
    Haha... then you should try to live in Poland for a while...
    here IP rights are restrictive - computer programs have higher
    status enforced by law, and they are protected more than any copyrighted item.

  26. Then there's Ton, he fights for the users...bmm~bu-bmb-baaah~

    (and all the other Blender-Belts...but that crashes the tron quote)

    I get that programs take a lot of work, yet how long can it be sold for until revenue simply isn't put back into the program?

    I'm glad I switched to Blender instead of saving up for something else, and to think, Blender isn't even 3 yet and it can do soooo much!

  27. There is really nothing unusual in this EULA. What I mean to say, there is nothing that isn't as evil as other EULAs I've seen.

    "Or Open-Source Projects with back-doors?"

    This is complete horse-shit by the way. So you all can ignore it.

  28. It does n't sound that odd really. Governments and Courts have decided how EULAs are written and if you want them to look after your rights you should do as they say. It is the PRICE that is the problem.
    The Germans also will invade your computer if you, for instance, have said you are hosting a "party" in one of their citys.

  29. Richard Marklew on

    Time for Ton to grow up and stop acting like a spoilt child. He should concentrate on getting blender running bug free rather than wasting time on a pathetic 'analysis' of the Autodesk EULA. I notice that at the bottom of the blender.org page there is a link to a 'Privacy Policy'. Guess what, the page is dead.

  30. Growing up is a bad thing... Especially if it means to adopt conformism and mental degeneration.
    So i prefer not growing up and staying in The Neverland forever, where freedom of speech reisdes!

  31. @Bert:T hx for add this to Blendernation... Now I hope people will not call you "Paranoid" or "Being anti commercial for the sake of being anti" as someone called me when I write about Autodesk a couple of weeks ago :D...

    @Andrew price: it's not an attack but information. The same as Ton did in FMX2011 when Tom Petit presented FBX as “Open Source” when actually it is Free of Charge.... Unfortunately people don't read (or don't want to know) about what they are buying and companies as Autodesk are very happy with that.

  32. To people (including Andrew Price) who say that this is an attack rather than news, you are correct on one level. But you ignore that there is *no* EULA discussion forum where (all?) Blender users go for information that discusses EULAs. There are few forums anywhere for addressing EULA or other binding agreements that people blindly accept. This discussion is good and healthy. And if not here, then where?

    To add to the discussion, EULAs are generally not designed for business to business sales. For a corporate-wide license, the contract (not an EULA) is designed by the power struggle between attorneys on either side.

    So EULAs are only for private or small-business users, or companies that don't negotiate terms.

    EULAs control the weak, not the powerful. And every novice, student, freelancer, or small business is weak compared to Autodesk. Even if only applicable in the USA, this will involve hundreds of thousands of people. Very few of these people would have the legal means and wherewithal to deter enforcement of the EULA.

    Further, the simple act of enforcing the nastier parts of an EULA implies guilt. If I were raided, I am guilty. If I were to develop a complaint campaign, I would still have to justify my innocence. Autodesk would be assumed innocent (and justified) until proven guilty.

    Finally, all repercussions seem trivial until they happen to you.

  33. ...actually, I was a witness "for" Autodesk in the 1990,s when they were involved in the courts ,with the government, about what is now the EULAs. I was working full time with AutoCAD and had just brought a new edition. The change in the laws were seen as bringing us into line with the US and Europe. Other company's involved with these changes are now phone company s.

  34. Carlos Santos on

    It is really sad to see companies like autodesk and abobe, that only think on money and nothing else. Autodesk felt afraid from maya and what they did? they bought maya, in order to try to eliminate the concurrence, and adobe did the same when an ex company called macromedia(creator of freehand, flash, fireworks etc) started to grow. But now the free software is growing at fast speed and with quality, and they can't buy it, cause its GOOD and FREE. Thank you Blender, Thank you Guimp, thank you unity3D for the good and free software you create and share.

  35. Huey Van Iadore on

    I so glad that Ton has shared a reminder of the freedoms in Blender that we sometimes take for granted. Thanks, Ton! And thanks, Bart, for posting this to BlenderNation.

  36. This issue is easily solved: Beat them at their own game!

    For years, I have been using an email signature that states the following:

    READ CAREFULLY:
    By reading this email, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I may have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

    Just one email to an employee - support, management or other - of the target software company that would generate a reply, and you now have proof of confirmation and agreement to YOUR EULA which supersedes theirs!

    Taa-Dahh!

  37. Boo hoo ......

    Autodesk

    ,the GIANT , tool makers to all fine artists in the world ! The BORG and all else , Yeah you, do ,pay the P R I C E and get your steel hammer and break all the limitations of the human imagination's borders by using ,paid , well , legit , bought ,own Autodesk software . thats all they ask money ! and sure, they track all their territories , for all worth .

    Blender :) cool Its mine yey . hey I love it . WTF! man above , dont want your money , lovely as all Hollands exotic tulips yet in all realms of the world ( time to say word ) what does he getting from ya ? Now would you rather pay the token and take the ride or see the Man in level 7 to sign your 1/4 of your imagination .

  38. You know, I agree that Autodesk's license agreement is onerous. But have you ever looked at a license agreement from Microsoft, SAP, CA, or IBM? They're all pretty much the same. Now I love Blender, don't get me wrong. But this whole thing seems a little snide. Every application has some sort of license restriction. Even Blender. Can anyone here elaborate on trying to sell a stand alone game made with the Blender game engine? There are some license issues there as well. Check it out.

  39. The blender community do not need to know about this...
    This is not the spirit of blender.
    We are better because we show we can do better
    not because we show what other are doing wrong.

  40. Autodesk always did ask for proof of purchase even before its internet activitys increased. And some of its programes did ask you to email to render whichever operating system you used. I think that was because of a legal requirement.

    Autodesks AutoCAD was the best CAD programe and those who make quality programes need to be able to protect their work. Its not Autodesk or the others choosing what to say but it is what the law already says. I do not have AutoCAD 2012 so I can,t say what its EULA is worth.

    what do you think about five sided polygons? Instead of the four we use at the moment they are much better at modeling but would you allow them to be "free" if you had found a way to use them in CAD programes?

  41. @pixnlove I agree with you completely. I have something to add.

    Even if we dont agree with policies from the company they are right to tell the user about it and at least they are blunt on what they intend to do if the need arises. I for one have seen autodesk software sold in third world countries for less than a dollar per software because people are cracking and copying it in millions of quantities and using the same serial number for a whole country. This really sucks for any company that puts in so much effort in developing software and in paying thousands of dollars to developers and someone just rips the software apart and sells it for free. I think that having strict rules in countries in Europe and Americas where law is upholded is justified so that such practice doesnt spread there. Believe me if the laws were not strict that practice would have been normal there too.

    Although Bard brought out a good point, but companies only do this to protect their intellectual property and to see how their software has been cracked and used in a way it should not have been, they have a right to be strict in their policies. As a person who lived in a third world country where such type of practice is normal by some individuals, I completely understand what Autodesk is doing.

    I think we should not get into angry debates over software here. Maya and 3Ds max are high end software and understanding their strengths and weaknesses is important. I have used them and i know what they can create. Comparing what software is better every time is going to start an endless debate loop. Considering one better than other halts ones development and doesnt help one reach their potential. Blender is a great software and I will always use it but I understand its strengths and weaknesses same as you all do. There will be a time when it will gain good position in the industry as well. That time is not far. So lets enjoy this software and lets put our individual efforts to make blender better. lets keep ourselves open minded and appreciate everthing that we can gain strength from. That should be the spirit of the blender community.

  42. I had no idea about this. Now I know. This is legitimate and important news for any CG community and I welcome the knowledge.

    Thanks Ton for the info. An informed community is a stronger community.

    Apply knowledge responsibly and there is no fault. Truth is truth.

    DJ

  43. EULAs are intentionally long so people won't read them. Much like some of the posts here.
    If your comment is more than five lines i'm skipping it.

  44. How is this news? How else would they audit you? Having been audited at work, they just walk around and ask to see your license information.

    Don't understand how this is interesting, we already knew full well this is how they work.

  45. Let´s do our thing in Blender, they will do theirs.

    Blender in time will get to "higher" spheres, as long as quality of code and ever growing tools set keeps this pace and industry standards are met.

  46. I dont know what happens in US , since I know that in that country personal liberties go down the toilet fast, but as a full time lawyer in Greece I can tell you that terms like that cannot apply in European Union for 2 reasons . A) Personal Data Protection European Regulation which is implemented by the whole of European union, that does not allow anyone to use or have access to your personal data without your consent. And personal data is any data (not just computer data) that can be associated to a person, which may start from what kind of underwear you are wearing to what 3d app you are using. Whether accepting the license with a click of a button means accepting the whole license is still open to debate according to relevant case law. It must be noted though that in many countries including mine , separate agreement or signature is required for permitting access to personal data.

    And then of course there is old and trusted personal privacy law, that protects from these kind of intrusions.

    The only way that this could be enforced is from police with a warrant. But that will mean that they have sufficient evidence and reasonable suspicions that you are using an illegal copy or a legal copy through illegal means.

    I even seriously doubt that these terms can apply legally in US as well, but as I have no knowledge of US law, cannot form on opinion on this.

    Illegal terms should not surprise you either, because the law only cancels them without canceling the whole contract , they have nothing to lose by putting them inside, even if they know that they cant enforce them legally. Fear is a powerful tool. These kind of terms are very common among contracts.

    By the way, the rest of the license if full of holes and no more than a legal joke, I would not care much for it if I were you. In any case any of those terms are subject to the national law of the user.

  47. Sounds a bit like preaching to the quire. People who use AutoDesk will probably not read it, and those who do would probably not switch to blender for various reasons. Although it might be a true statement, it would not change anything. All of use have accepted EULA's, and in most cases we just simply have to to use a certain piece of software or service. Even GPL is known to limit the users (see the Blender game engine to make a commercial game debates).

    Personally the close look at the competitor's license doesn't contribute to anything. It, like this discussion just vents our feelings about it, and that's it.

    Cheers

  48. Rly guys..What is the purpose of "news" like that in BLENDER's site? You should bother doing this...Advertise the goods of blender. Not the bads of other apps...

  49. It's because of corporate novel sized EULA's that noone reads them in the first place. Why do they feel so insecure that they need to cover themselves so completely with legalese? People with guilty conscienses react defensively, maybe its same for corporations?

    GameStation obtained ownership of over 7k peoples "immortal souls" through legal clause in EULA of online purchase, sure ive heard of other companies doing same thing too.. It seems kind of sad ;'(

  50. gatorade-dude on

    The only stress the blender community should have is about some crazy bugs they need to fix or features that everyone wants, a better understanding of the whole ecosystem and interaction through sharing, creating books, making money designing, sending money to the coders so they can feel some love, or if you are broke contribute by sharing the love for blender with everyone around you.

    Although the EULA stuff is good for general knowledge, this does not bring anything new to the blender community as we don't have enough money to raise for a law firm to write a proper, very long, juridically obscure , paralyzing EULA for blender users...

  51. Good to know because some greedy company will use EULA against users. It is not if, but when. All users are concerned including those in Europe as some greedy companies attempt to legalize software patents on that continent. The US is a complete mess in that department, Canada does not accept that but, greedy companies keep trying.

  52. So it appears if you buy the software, you have basically given your house keys to AutoDesk.
    Whereas if you pirate the software, you have not agreed to the EULA and therefore are covered by
    regular privacy laws (even though they get weaker by the year).
    Therefore, AutoDesk is actually encouraging and giving incentive to pirate their software as opposed to buying it.

    It's doesn't make sense Captain.

  53. This post does no good to Blender's image.
    Pointing at others with a finger seldomly has good side effects.

  54. @Hubert G.
    @gatorade-dude
    @C4dmax
    @LOGAN
    @eonmach
    @Dim

    If it is not useful to you, that's fine. So what? I'm sure you know how to rotate an object, too. So would a post on that subject be derided?

    The knowledge it adds to the Blender community is not directly related to using Blender. But it will keep people who didn't know from recommending other products without reservation.

    It is also convincing for people contemplating Blender vs. [product x], at the very least by making them read what they are agreeing to.

    Finally, it does make professionals consider more carefully if Blender is at least *good enough* to meet the needs, even if it may not have some latest feature.

  55. What I find interesting is Autodesk does not seem to support the Khronos Group (AKA Open GL) in anyway. Nor does it seem to support the Python Software Foundation of which they have integrated .py script into Maya since the 2009 version and also 3D studio max from my understanding. I am just looking at the sponsors page for both. I am speaking financially of course. Some of their users such as Lucas Arts, Epic Games, EA, Microsoft, and Sony Computer Entertainment do though. That seems a bit off to me. They do however support the Public Spaces Program. Perhaps I am mislead altogether, still its seems they may want to give a bit back to these programs they are building on? I wonder if the EULA of these programs changed if they themselves would have to change their own.

  56. i know 3dsMax licensing was becoming a 'seat at the table' issue because it (along with maya) was an 'industry standard'. While they would certainly help with technical issues support wise, i often found the various communities to be too fractured. maybe because there were such a large amount of 'professional' users out there, no one seemed to genuinely want to share their insight on new features, and the best workflow would have to be painstakingly drawn out, and then jealously guarded as a 'trick+tip'. Not to mention the de facto answer of 'Get the new version...' for something that could be perfectly well done (albeit a bit more difficult) in a previous version. Not that a user should be spoonfed, but if you keep building up that barrier of entry, you'll get more and more people like myself that go 2-3 versions without checking out new features. In the long run we weigh the benefits of a new license and see it is truly not worth it.

    the best thing about BF's openess (in EVERYTHING) is that it is so persistent in all facets. Open Movies, Content, Games, all the encouragement for global interaction. honestly the community of blender users is (a great majority) THE /MOST/ HELPFUL i've EVER seen in the past 16 years of online community i've sought out and enjoyed.

  57. I really think the there was no point in blender investigating the license for Autodesk. There's no need to scare people out of using the autodesk products. Blender is widely used because it is a great program and is free. Blender didn't become so popular by insulting other programs or suggesting they lacked certain corporate morals.
    It would be unwise for blender to publish something so provocative.
    If autodesk did something like this everyone would be crying foul play.

  58. @Delfeld

    I was a student AND a Maya user for 5 years, but I learned 3D first on Blender, because I had´t the cash to buy it, I use Blender since 1.x, I was one of the many who saw the change from propietary in-house tool(NAN) to open source model of Blender.
    Then changed to Blender in my personal projects, then professional,
    It was my decision, sold my Maya 5 license and hoped that was a right decision.
    It was, freedom of creating everything, without a license that automatically says you are not the owner(as a student) of your own work!!!.

    I liked not to lose my freedom to create, learn or even sell anything to my whim. Even if Blender had and has issues...

    So writing respectfully and in good will to you, I couldn´t care less about the EULA of Maya,
    I read it, perhaps years before you knew it, that´s one of the reasons I changed my main 3D suite.

    You should not put a tag on the opinion of others. That seem to me like "hey guys, look at those morons who wrote that " because you don´t own or know the whole truth behind those replies.
    Then again I don´t want to sound harsh in any way, but I wanted to be clear.

  59. @eonmarch

    I don't want to be a troll here, defending the basic validity behind "negative" posts. I have stated my thoughts on the matter twice, so I will not respond past this post.

    I do not think that the posters I called out read many of the other posts, especially mine, so it bore repetition at that point. Maybe the tagging was too much, even if it is effective at calling attention.

    The second thought I have about this is the complicated social situation I find myself -- and you -- in: censoring a censor of censors of a censorship post on censoring via EULAs. To clarify a bit, there was no assumption about the authors, just hypothesizing on possible reasons.

    I guess my interest is to ensure more valuable freedoms of ideas and discussions; at times, some comments should be challenged (possibly directly, possibly negatively) -- and some commenters should be held responsible for their statements -- in order to allow broader freedoms.

    I accept that I could have the right concept, but ineffective enforcement; I apologize if I crossed a line, or was too emphatic.

  60. Ask yourself an honest question...Why throw away thousands of dollars on a company who don't care about you? Open source like Blender is made for you, by you if you choose to participate. Don't support a company by using their software if you want to be free from their restrictions like price (they must be mad or greedy buggers), releasing meager updates every 12 months and trying to monopolize the industry. They are the Mc Donalds to your favourite Cafe, you may go there once in a while but you know it's wrong!
    MASS PRODUCED MARKET HUNGRY MADNESS

  61. @BlaBla: You said:

    "Compared to many free Applications included with malware and spyware? Or Open-Source Projects with back-doors? I’ve learned nothing is for free. I reckon blender is financed by European tax money?"

    But I thought I would let you know that this is not the case. There are thousands of people who just ENJOY coding, and let others benefit from it.I can assure you that Blender is 100% free and safe, just like Linux and other famous programs and operating systems. In fact, Linux is used by some governments. So not everything has a "catch." If these programs aren't safe it would be all over the news because you can look at the source code yourself, and check if it is safe.

    About being financed, sponsors do help open source projects, but that doesn't mean the software is bad.

    FREEWARE is another story. Freeware is almost always dangerous, and NOT free. Don't use it.

  62. And i thought that one cannot divide by zero... in that case the value of blender is simply "undefined".... or error:)
    BUT we all could take strong point on SHARING and make a new slogan that will set a NEW WORLD:

    _SHARE THE MONEY_!

    This is our destiny!

    :P

  63. Interesting reads,

    did you guys ever consider the amount of piracy of those software packages?

    I am not here to defend AutoDesk but those EULA entries are there because many simply
    hack the software and programmers need to be paid as well.

    If you have a legal copy I don't think you ever have to be concerned.

  64. Actually, this doesn't seem to be the only time such demands have been made; someone mentioned somewhere else recently, that an anti-virus software vendor had made the same statements, including that of you agreeing to having your computer accessed over a network by them to check for any pirated software. If you check closely, you might find DRM interrogating software in places you don't expect... even open source, I suspect.

  65. @claas: No, EULAs are not there for fighting Software Piracy. That is, because Software Pirates do not (typically) sign EULAs, so they are ONLY for paying customers. The instrument for fighting Software Piracy is Copyright laws (for example the "urheberrecht" in Germany, which in principle I like more than the american copyright - though the german "urheberrecht" gets more and mor "copyrightified" in the last years...)
    EULAs are there for regulating / restricting the rights of LEGAL users. Thus as the GPL does for Blender.
    So, if EULAs realy would like to do something AGAINST Piracy, they should somehow clearify some advantages of being a paying customer: ex. stating the intellectual property of all artistic work done with the software to the creator.
    In this term not only autodesks, but almost any commercial EULAS fail. This way, you don't fight Piracy, but rather encourage it.

  66. All these posts just tell me what i already fear for freedom of expression on the internet. It's entrapment in disguise. Forgive me for sounding like a conspiracy theorist but when organisations feel that you are encroaching on there territory they are compelled to defend themselves. When and if they come to some realisation of threat can be shown in examples within the Mobile Phone Industry.. Apples relent to Nokia in a Lawsiut against patent infringment is just one example of many out there. Where does Blender fit into all this I hear you ask....Take Maya, 3D Max etc they have established a client base that sustains all its employees and there families...not to be taken lightly I can assure you.
    And this gets me to the point where I ask myself...How much in Lawsuits can Blender take on. Fighting legal issues is time consuming and expensive and could prove detrimental to its development.
    Champion the cause of the delights Blender brings us all...for on the horizon is the evolving world of 3D entering the domestic arena.
    And here lies Blenders strength its given to the people to act upon it's potential and protect it by contribution not only financially but by way of Skills.
    For example if Blender comes under financial strain or lack of Skilled contributors then it may be forced to implement costings to the end user i.e. you and I.
    I myself see this as not a problem as this in itself could be a good thing for Blender if it is constructed in the right manner. For Example.. release of the application to college and universities on the prerequisite of professionally finished initial projects are donated via copywright and royalties to Blender is a small request to ask of. The Establishments benefit and students have a positive experience to ad to there C.V.
    To many the above probably comes as a surprise others old news but what needs to be done rather sooner than later is a protection system that has a long term goal of evolvement and that not only begins at the top but with the end user also...you and I.
    In the mean time enjoy the skills that the Blender team have offered you.

    Happy Blendering!!

    Weskus

  67. Richard Marklew on

    Actually, I was wrong earlier when I said Ton should grow up. He can remain a baby and enjoy his pram. What do I care!

  68. @BlaBla: Yes, open source is riddled with back-doors, that's the "well known secret" about it. But the thing is, it's free and proprietary ain't any better, in fact it's worse.

    You won't get to enjoy clean code unless you wrote it yourself. Tell me who said that, and for who he worked, and what his employer is sponsoring, before you start arguing.

  69. @Richard Marklew: Sorry mate, but belittling a successful open-source software developer like Ton by comparing him to an infant does not make you sound mature. Perhaps it is not Ton who needs to grow up?

  70. @Weskus

    You´ve made some excellent points there, unlike proprietary 3D software like (put your commercial brand here), Open source software has an unique capability of self preservation.
    Even if Blender Foundation has a problem like dissapearing (gulp!) or anything else, like Ton being abducted by little green men(yikes!) , I´m sure there are a lot of capable and smart people around the World, that could gain again control of the project and keep it under good hands. That´s a big difference.
    But I hope Ton will be right with us for many decades, even as a living head in a bowl (gulp!).
    I´m also sure that, if Blender Foundation ever needs help in dire from the community,
    they won´t be left unheard.
    So applies to any project hosted in Sourceforge for example, the only cryptonite I could imagine in them is lack of commitment and abandonment, which is a little hard to see in the most advanced open source 3D app in the world.

    Cheers!

  71. Blender Artist on

    @JakeW : You're not getting the 'inside joke'...that's not richard posting (obiviously)

    I have to say though I agree with those who don't like Ton spending time on analysing the competition. He may find his own efforts will come under more scrutiny and he won't like it. The guy who said "Just do your own thing" was right!

  72. @Blender Artist: I guess I didn't get the inside joke. All I saw was a troll belittling someone and reacted accordingly. I take back my post, then.

    In response to the second half: I agree with you totally. It doesn't look good for a software developer, even an open source one, to critique their competitors. We already know Blender is awesome. Just keep working on it!

  73. Open Source doesn't mean better it just means a better license model, that is what 90% of the war against commercial products is all about. However is that a bad thing? No!

    I was an Autodesk 3DS Max student once they make a great tool even if it costs $3000 but that doesn't mean you will get $3000 worth of satisfaction, there are things in there probably not worth the time or poorly implemented. Given Autodesk's track history whether or not they want to stoop to privacy invasion is of little concern when it comes down what their selling, so what are they selling? They are selling a complete package capable of doing half the job, as for the other half it's either wasted or needs extra hands but that is where they capitalize on the investment. They know for a fact business will require more copies so we are left with buying more licenses, what is cheaper? Blender of course! Nough said.

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