illegal software

Hello,

I am making a game and I use some software that I didn't really buy (photoshop for example). I also use some educational licences (Maya, mudbox, Ddo). How big a deal is this. I am planning to put my game on greenlight.

 

Why not use free software like Blender and GIMP?

 

I would not recommend trying to make money off of your work in educational licenses of software. This puts you in a position where every success you have makes you more likely to be legally contacted by the tools companies you did not pay.

This does not sound like a fun situation to be in. Use your educational licenses to learn your trade. When you are ready to make a product for profit, license the software you need to do so.

[Personal Note] I do not recommend Maya for Indie development. They have opted to go with an ENORMOUS price tag because they are designed for companies with budgets that can handle it. Yes, you were probably told to use it. Yes, a lot of successful animators use it. Yes, you need to BUY it if you want to be one of those that enjoys using it, even though your first commercial product probably has less than $2,000 in budget. To my knowledge Autodesk has made no attempt to include independent developers as customers.

 

because blender and gimp have limitations when it comes to things like plugins. blender doesn't support substances and Ddo doesn't work with gimp.

 

Actually you can buy Maya LT for $30 but you're better off learning Blender. It's free and doesn't have the limitations of Maya LT.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/243580/

Then make money with something free to pay for the programs you need!

 

Yes, free software is often limited when compared to expensive software. No, this not not mean you can just "not pay".

 

True, but I whas thinking: when its not that a big deal I can just buy the software after i made some money with the game so I don't have to pay $10000 and risk that I will never earn that money back.

 

Did you calculate in any legal risks from being caught by Autodesk?

 

I think that you already know the answer to your question.

Why is it fair for you to make money using software that you didn't pay for? As has already been suggested here, if you can't afford the software then you should probably find a cheaper alternative until you can afford the software that you really want.

In my opinion, the only grey area here is if you were pirating software for educational purposes but even that is up for debate. The educational licenses that you legally possess are pretty clear that they are not to be used for commercial purposes.

 

All I'm going to say is this, if you're going to use pirated software for game development then use it for learning purposes only. DO NOT try to make money off of assets that you make using pirated software.

 

So it is legal to make everything in pirated software and educational licences, and then (before release) buy the software?

 

There are great ways to earn money. Asset Store, Fiverr (or other freelance work platforms)... you could even write a fanfiction or a Book and sell it on Amazon.

 

No.

Also, be fully aware, there are monetary rewards (in the US at least) available for people reporting companies and other commercial entities (e.g. you as a sole proprietor) that are using pirated software.

Just use the software you can afford. Blender is a great tool that can do pretty much anything you need it to. If you have to, write your own plugins, it can be done.

 

Some asset programs also mark the files. If you're using an educational release of Maya, for example, it marks the files you've created as having been created with the educational release. I'm not terribly familiar with other assets but I wouldn't be surprised if they track name of the author, version of the software, whether it was legit or not, etc.

It isn't safe to simply develop with pirated or educational licenses and then buy at the end of development.

 

But how do people know that if I haven't released my game?

 

You just told a whole forum

 

crap

 

I think that i will mail autodesk

 

Just take the advice being given and either buy the necessary licenses, or switch to using free alternatives. Do that and you'll be fine.

Edit: don't worry about contacting autodesk or what-have-you, just ammend your current practices with the advice given

 

Even if you buy something later your receipt dates will show that you did not own them before in case they track you. Anyways your thinking towards the whole thing looks to be like that this thread will be locked and you getting a warning or ban.

 

Yeah this is the inevitable way these threads eventually go. Unity is understandably hostile when it comes to piracy. If he's using a pirated copy of Unity, it'll be a definite ban. Regardless of the decision I believe Unity does track individuals they feel are suspicious and I would expect them to keep regular tabs on his licensing data.

 

Ban??? What? What did i do wrong?

 

Are you kidding? You confirmed pirating software and/or breaking license agreements of several products in your opening post.

 

Everyone uses pirated software, thats no secret right?

 

No, my software is completely legit. If I cannot afford a software package, I use an alternative (ie Blender, GIMP, etc) or simply put up with the tighter restrictions for any free releases (ie Unity Free).

Piracy is simply not an acceptable practice in this industry and it is not tolerated.

 

100% of my software is paid for (or free, like Blender). No piracy allowed; temporarily banned for a week.

--Eric