Is using both Pro and Free Versions Allowed?
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Greetings. My search of the board didn't show an answer to these questions, so my utmost apologies if they have been asked and answered elsewhere.
I run a construction company, and we have two employees who have SketchUp 8 Pro, while the other employees use the free version. We generally send all of our export/import through the two with the Pro licenses, and then send the files back over to the person using the free version. My question is, is this permissible or are we required to have a pro license for each user? The T&C has proven most unhelpful in this matter.
My second question is also a Pro v Free one. We're not an architecture or design form, so we don't develop anything on SketchUp that would be for sale, but use it solely for our benefit in furtherance of a service contract, but those designs are later included in a deliverable to the client. Is it permissible to use the free version if we have others with the Pro license or, again, do we need to acquire Pro licenses for all users? The T&C has again proven most unhelpful.
Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read my questions.
Cheers!
William -
Hi William,
To my understanding of the T&C, it is not forbidden to use the free version commercially and in company environment.
- When SU 5 Free came out, it was NOT allowed to be used commercially.
- Then SU 6 came out and the Free version was explicitly allowed to be used commercially.
- Since version 7, any reference has been removed however what is not forbidden, is allowed legally.
Note however that this is not an official Google forum and I certainly do not speak on behalf of Google. Also note however that when I say this on the official Google forums, Google employees never disprove my above opinion.
(Ah yes, and I am also a lawyer)
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I remember reading the entire license agreement for Sketchup free since we use it commercially in landscaping. I'm pretty sure sketchup 7 is allowed in a commercial (for profit) business. sketchup is also open source because programmers can can write their own plugins for use in sketchup. Hence the 400 free plugins. At the same time, programmers can create plugins for purchase too.
this is one of the reason I love sketchup free!
I have not read the license agreement for sketchup 8. -
@booman said:
sketchup is also open source...
Well, it is not open source but certainly the ability to add plugins is invaluable.
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If on a network, havn't some reported problems with running multiple instances of SketchUp?
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@unknownuser said:
If on a network, havn't some reported problems with running multiple instances of SketchUp?
shouldn't be an issue unless it's a pro version trying to use the same key. otherwise they should run together. free and pro.
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I think the idea from SketchUp is Hassle and Support. I think it's legal and proper what you are doing and I think Google understands a small businesses need to save costs. I believe that they see it as a hassle that you have to go through to save that money, ie employees moving about to complete work. but in reality you could do everything Pro does (with the exception or a north arrow and Google Maps grabs) with plugins or by taking .skp files to other software. although you won't get Layout 3 which is also a very valuable addition. By purchasing one or more of the Pro versions you're eliminating your hassles and showing your support for the software and the platform.
I would feel more comfortable with you situation if only one employee was doing the exporting with pro and other users simply used the free version on their system. but in my opinion I think you're ok right now. I don't know if we'll get a Google Rep in here to publicly comment on this, but there are quite a few here and I would think they will see it. so we may get an official answer...
welcome to the forum btw and we'd love to see some of your work.
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