What will AD do if they catch someone pirating MAYA LT?

[F.E.A.R]

If you are a solo hobbyist creating games to sell on google play for free or 99 cents. Or selling $3 2D games on steam. But the person is using student or pirated copy of Maya LT

Will Autodesk travel to the 3rd world and sue starving kids and hobbyist for millions of dollars?

My guess is if someone can't afford food it would be little point in Autodesk trying to sue these people for millions?

Or would they likely make a deal and ask the dev to pay for a legit software before bothering to go to court? i did hear Autodesk is the most evil company in North America when it comes to trying to sue people for money.

[IAmPeon]

That is a rather double edged sword you are talking about. People work super hard to make the software you are asking if you can "pirate" and use for profit. My guess is that it will not end well one way or another. If you are making money with the software, great, pay for the tools you use to create it. Otherwise, expect the worst. I personally havent much sympathy for people who think they are some sort of special case and that they should be able to steal tools that cost exobitant amounts of manpower to build just because they are software.

Ask yourself this... If you were to steal a plumbers tools to do small jobs and only make a little money would the plumber have the right to be stark raving mad? I mean, he spent thousands and thousands on those tools and you just stole them.... but you are only making a little money right? Whats the harm if he goes out of business and his family starves right?

Just pay the cup of coffee mayaLT costs a day and make an honest living or seek free alternatives. I do not know what they would do, but I would not blame them if they took action against you for litterally stealing their tools and then making a profit from them. If you are not making money, then you can get the tools for learning purposes, but if you make money with them, you should pony up and buy the tools. Seriously, a cup of coffee every day is more expensive than the top quality software they deliver. Your gripe wins no soft hearts here. As for evil, I think you should reconsider the word "evil", they make great software and offer it for a more-than-fair price and do honest business. Also if you read the license im sure it would give you better understanding of the outcome you can expect.

[F.E.A.R]

How exactly is seeking alternatives any different from people using pirated software though? I am curious to know how exactly does it affect anyone if a person uses blender or a pirated software if such a person never had money to pay for software in the first place?

I swear this has to be the dumbest argument to piracy I have ever heard. People do things only regarding the law, businesses don't have "feelings" developers get chicken feed for work that a business makes billions off. Everything is done according to what you can get away with.

Prime example is how intel paid companies to only use intel CPU, AMD won the law suite for $1 billion but in return Intel made $30 billion. So people do things in a manner which money is concerned nothing more nothing less

[IAmPeon]

It is what is right and what is wrong. I do what is right. Pirating software is simply put, stealing. I dont steal. You can use the learning software for free from autodesk. If you are making money, then you will need to pay for it. Im not sure what is so dumb about that arguement. You argue they make money so they should give it away, but how do you think they make money? How about i steal your game when its done? Is that cool too?

[F.E.A.R]

Originally posted by Syn* IAmPeon:

It is what is right and what is wrong. I do what is right. Pirating software is simply put, stealing. I dont steal. You can use the learning software for free from autodesk. If you are making money, then you will need to pay for it. Im not sure what is so dumb about that arguement. You argue they make money so they should give it away, but how do you think they make money? How about i steal your game when its done? Is that cool too?

If they actually gave their software for free and asked that you repay soon as you get your first cheque from your game then yes I could easily understand paying back.

But thats not how it works now is it? far from it you cannot get the software unless you pay a huge amount of money. You may argue that $30 USD a month is not much I agree totally, but did you also know that some places cost of living is $200 a month and you get paid less than $200 a month?

You catch my drift? different economies the money has different value. So unless the company genuinely cares about a wanna be developer I see no reason to care about the company or its workers. Tit for Tat.

[IAmPeon]

Well, good luck. I want a ferrari, if I stole it, i would pay expect to pay the consequences. Autodesk has employees and infrastructure to pay the same as ferrari has to buy materials and pay labor and pay for their cost of doing business. No matter how you aregue it, I wont be on your side. Im sorry you live in a country where income potential is lower. But its not like business are in business to be friends and helpful, they are in business to make money and support the people who support them (employees). Autodesk makes a great product at a resonably affordable rate to virtually everyone. I wouldnt call them evil, or mean or anything of the sort. I would call them a good business with a solid reputation. If you cant afford the software then just download blender till you can afford it. Stealing is wrong and so is your reasoning just because you dont have the money to afford it it does not mean that stealing it is ok...

[F.E.A.R]

I take your point but Autodesk are the scums of this business a quick search to see the most lawsuites shows Autodesk. As a matter of fact I asked if it was ok to use a student copy to create assets and then purchase MAYA before I was ready to release a game and Autodesk says no its not legal to do so. So even if you are willing to spend $2000 USD to buy Maya the day before you release the product its not possible to do so according to Autodesk. I have worked in the industry let me tell you nobody is here to be your friend.

I have witnessed companies like Intel and Sony enslave children in Africa and supported guerrilla groups for cheaper minerals over legit governments. These people are no friend to humanity, and I treat it the same way they do which is strictly business. For example my country has no copyright laws unless it is software made locally so this entire conversation is pointless but I was just making a point here.

Also if you stole a ferrari from Ferrari they would literally lose a ferrari.

if you stole a copy of infinite amounts of the same maya floating around countless 3rd world servers then Autodesk loses nothing.
A comparison of a ferrari to a digital software is in noway possible. It requires real raw materials to make this ferrari and when you lose it you actually lose lose it.

Autodesk loses nothing if someone makes a copy of Maya. Sameway Ferrari loses nothing if someone makes a copy of it.

[IAmPeon]

Do what you want. Your arguement holds no water with me. Real resources are spent in manpower and infrastructure. If you think that it is "free" to develop software you are drastically mistaken. In fact with software, because of people like you and those who think like you, the software companies MUST hire lawyers to deal with the situation or they would be out of business in a matter of hours. You may believe it is a matter of phillosophical debte , but if software companies can't retain their profits from sales they go under. And along with them go countless employees who worked hard long hours. Without using lawyers, software companies have no tools to manage fraud and theft. The only difference between a ferrari and maya is that one is a digital product and one is a physical product. They both require resources to produce. Stealing either product hurts the company that which produced it.

Look, we are not going to wsee eye to eye on this. Autodesk however is not evil because they protect thier interests and their employees. They are not "scums". I know many people who are scum, the fine people at autodesk are most certaily not that. And most certainly not because they protect their investments. Business does not have a responsibility to be kindly. They have a responsibility to provide a service and be paid a fair rate. They do that well.

I manage a team of game developers, I use MayaLT and so does my team. We use the new stingray game engine because it is the most fair. You pay 30$ a month, you make a game, the game is yours. The companies offering "Free" products hit you at the end with lawyers should you not pony up a percentage of the profits. If you rather the latter arrangement (as you said in your arguement), i suggest you bark up a different tree. I am thankful to Autodesk and certainly do not condemn them for their products. They make my small business possible. Do I want Maya (Full)? yes. Will I steal it because I cant afford it for myself and my team? No.

I will not respond further to this inane circular arguement. I do not and will not believe Autodesk to be evil. Though I also do not think you are evil, I believe you to be misguided. I suggesst you look into blender. It is powerful, free and you do not have to steal it. If you do not have resources, it is better to use freeware legally where the lisence is specifically designed for people like you.

[Frostie]

If you cant afford food how are you on the interwebz downloading a pirated software, on a pc that actualy runs it?

If you dont want to get sued just use one of the tons of free modeling tools? :p