“Qualified Educational Institution” means an educational institution which has been accredited by an authorized governmental agency within its applicable local, state, provincial, federal, or national government and has the primary purpose of teaching its enrolled students. According to one licensing term sheet I found from Autodesk:Ģ6. First, is the term Qualified Educational Institution. Here are some of the terms that may be at issue. Common Licensing TermsĪutodesk has many different types of software that can be used for a three-year term (as long as the student continues to meet the qualifications of the licensing terms). We deal with companies as small as one architect, engineer, designer or game creator on up to very large companies that use Autodesk software. Also, people seem to think sometimes that only the 'large studios' get hit for an audit. NOTE: Some people refer to a student license as a 'hobbyist' license, but I am not aware of such a license. When this happens, sometimes either the intern, or corporate insider, and sometimes even a competitor may “tip-off” Autodesk directly, or may inform representatives of the business software alliance about the pirated usage, and this could lead to receiving the software audit letter. One item that comes up fairly frequently is the illegal use of software used by students of various college campuses, and interns who come to a small architect or engineering firm or design firm to learn on the job, but also start using the software outside the terms of the license, which generally permits commercial use.

IntroductionĪs a software lawyer, I handle many cases with Autodesk counsel from the prestigious intellectual property firm Donahue Fitzgerald. Make sure to LIKE to our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE for future legal updates.

VIDEO: Attorney Steve explains software audits dealing with the use of unlicensed students versions of Autocad and Autodesk (for commercial projects).

Auto cad student