Legal Questions over a Potentially Pirated Copy

[Guest]

Hello Adobe,

I'm a student currently try to make a side living selling photographs with friends. I wanted to ask is there a way to test if a software is pirated? Because before I publish the collection of photos we have edited I just wanted to be safe in case the school software is pirated as I believe this will lead to legal implications. Is there a way I can test the photos to make sure we have used a legitimate version of the product? Also if it turns out to be a creative cloud educational license is it still okay? If either are not commercially viable/ not legitimate copies is it possible for me to edit our photos again with a licensed version of the software to make it legit? At this point we aren't sure about the legitimacy of the school software and we want to be safe as recently the school was caught with pirated copies of NUKE. We want to be able to do our project with peace of mind and within legal boundaries please advice us.

[gener7]

If the software belongs to the school, only the license holder knows. I don't think anything is embedded in the photos that would say or be transmitted to Adobe in the CS series. What version is it?

The Lightroom and Photoshop | Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan is only $10 a month for a 1 year commitment.

At least you know it's legit and yours.

Here's the CC License: Legal Terms of Use | Adobe

[Guest]

Hello gener, its a CS5 PS, we have editted our photos in school already, I was considering purchasing the sub but if I do and run the finished photos through that subscribed cloud version, would it be considered legal even if it turns out the photos were edited in a pirated version?

[gener7]

Your edited Photos are always yours, always legal no matter how Photoshop was acquired, legally or illegally.

From the EULA (legal agreement to use the software).

3. Your Content. (Meaning anything you edit or created in Photoshop)

3.1 Ownership. You retain all rights and ownership of your content. We do not claim any ownership rights to your content.

So if it was found to be stolen, the school would have to remove the program and pay damages if prosecuted, but they could not demand you also turn over your photos and all profits to the sale of your photos.

Another way of putting it is if you composed a hit song on a stolen guitar, the owner gets the guitar, not the rights to your song.

(Sorry for the late reply. Need rest first.)

Gene

[Guest]

Gener I understand, that is fair and thanks.

@mytax I actually have sent a mail 2 months ago over the inquiry of why an art school doesn't have subsidy for the educational license. Well the school i'm in particular, that along with the pirated NUKE case in a class room just made me suspicious of the software. I mean its probably legit i'm just worried there is a chance it may not be I like for me and my friends to work clean. But thx! If we find anything odd we'll let adobe know.

[gener7]

Since we are forum volunteers and not Adobe Legal Staff, I'll direct you to this article

Adobe starts a new war on software piracy which has a link to Adobe Genuine software

There you have some idea how to go about it.

You can directly ask the school staff, but they might not know, or may tell you it's not your business. Things may go downhill if they think you want to make trouble for them.  Depends on how much you like it there.

Anyway the CS series is no longer being offered and CC is what is being sold. If you provide proof you are a student, you can get academic discounts from Adobe.

[mytaxsite]

Tearbrush wrote:

Hello Adobe,

I'm a student currently try to make a side living selling photographs with friends. I wanted to ask is there a way to test if a software is pirated? Because before I publish the collection of photos we have edited I just wanted to be safe in case the school software is pirated as I believe this will lead to legal implications. Is there a way I can test the photos to make sure we have used a legitimate version of the product? Also if it turns out to be a creative cloud educational license is it still okay? If either are not commercially viable/ not legitimate copies is it possible for me to edit our photos again with a licensed version of the software to make it legit? At this point we aren't sure about the legitimacy of the school software and we want to be safe as recently the school was caught with pirated copies of NUKE. We want to be able to do our project with peace of mind and within legal boundaries please advice us.

If the product is activated then how can it be pirated?  Do you get any pop-ups warning you that this software is not licensed or that it is a trial version or something similar.  How can an educational institute use pirated software?  Is it some profit-making private training center?

Trial software expires after 7 days so a college using it will have to keep installing after every 7 days and I am sure they have better to do than to spend time fiddling with software licenses.

Can you post the name of the institute so that Adobe staff can check it out.  You can contact somebody privately using PM so that you don't name them here publicly.

If you really want to be certain then you can take out an educational plan and install the software on your own machine.  You can install it on two machines and the subscription is very reasonable especially when you get updates/upgrades as and when they are out.