Who gets fined for piracy?

[senoral]

Lets say one person puts out a tampered version of after effects in which thousands of people use, some being unaware/young at the time. If reported, does the original person who tampered get in trouble (fine) or does everyone?

I always thought about it since everything gets messed with now a days and was just curious. Personally I figured it would be the main source.

[Moved by a moderator to the more general Creative Cloud forum as this isn't an After Effects-specific question.]

[Title edited by moderator for clarity's sake (really long title moved into the body.)]

[Dave Merchant]

Using software without the required licenses is a crime. Creating or distributing software that breaches the license is also a crime. Adobe can and does take action against anyone they identify.

And as your first and only post on an official support forum, this is a very suspicious question.

[senoral]

I can totally see why this could be suspicious- no need to raise any just because its my first post though... I said I was curious in which I was and your answer really helped. I'm also mid conversation with a few people about it.

[Abambo · Accepted solution]

Laws change from country to country, but piracy is illegal every where in the world.

Some people think it's not illegal, because they did not harm anyone. But that's not true:

1. They do harm Adobe and their employees.
2. They harm the people paying for the software.
3. They even harm themselves as the pirates are not working for free. Pirated software may bear other unwanted software components in the belly. And that components could steal your personal information or banking accounts or similar. In the best case that software only crashes your computer.

[rivz_8180]

Not trying to be rube but 1. who would care about a multi-billion-dollar corporation losing $1000?
2. How? its not like they would care some innocent person could not afford it so they pirated.
3 There is a website that lists all the piracy websites that dont carry malware at all. (and no im not telling you it)

[kglad]

the biggest concern for the amoral is using malware on a computer that's also used to handle finances.

[Nancy OShea]

Everyone pays for piracy, one way or another.  The risk of infection is very high from malware, spyware, ransomware & trojans that corrupt data and disable devices. That's assuming you don't get caught.

The legal implications of sharing pirated software can be far more severe, ranging from financial loss to jail time. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. 👿