This week I gave bad news to two long-time, independent customers - the AutoCADs they own cannot be upgraded and, furthermore, are likely pirated.
One bought theirs from eBay, the other from a website that sells (and buys) older AutoCADs. In the industry, these are called 'non-traditional sources'.
The problem? The serial numbers are not legitimate. In fact, they use three-digit prefixes that have never been issued by Autodesk for any of their products. These products installed and appeared to be activated by Autodesk and functioned just fine. But they are dead ends. I say 'appeared', because it is my suspicion that the registration process was faked and built into the software. They cannot be upgraded because Autodesk does not recognize them as legitimate copies.
But, even if they were legit, they still might not be able to be upgraded.
Why? Because if someone sells you their copy of AutoCAD et al, they are breaking the End User License Agreement (EULA) they agreed to when then bought AutoCAD. This article has a great break down of the issue: No, you don’t own it: Court upholds EULAs. From the article:
"Autodesk, the software's developer, forced all users to accept an agreement before using AutoCAD. This agreement made clear that AutoCAD was merely licensed, never sold, and that one's license was non-transferable. Further, a licensee could not rent, lease, or sell the software to anyone else... Finally, if you upgraded to a new version, the old version had to be destroyed"
The only time you are likely able to use and upgrade a legitimate secondhand Autodesk product is if the package has never been opened. Or, practically speaking, at least never registered. This is because Autodesk will not allow the ownership to be transferred. They will allow company name changes, but that is about it, and it isn't easy to get approved.
So, if you buy a copy of Autodesk secondhand, you are going to have a real hard time trying to upgrade it. Especially if it is not a legitimate copy.
Caveat Emptor
Recent Comments