[Ron Lindeboom]

Many of the points you make, Tim, are the very things that will drive people to the cloud and away from the ownership of software, etc. (And yes, recent court rulings have sided with the customer in “You can’t sell the software because we only licensed it to you and you do not own anything but the right to use it” cases. Autodesk was flamed by a judge for disallowing a customer to sell their software. So companies like Automatic Duck and others who also cite that kind of policy, better take note.)

But one of the things I have seen coming for a while, Tim, is the whole ASP model of serving software online. This is where companies who want to license the use and rent-by-the-hour usage of their software will get away with it — and we will let them.

Why?

Because we are getting tired of crashes, hangs, blown-out licensing credits that the customer service people at Adobe and others refuse to renew for many, saying that their credits are all used up.

Me, I think that this is one of the main reasons that we are getting the “you used to be a customer that we cared about but now you are going to need to buy a new license” — but hey, “I am NOT a pirate and the reason I am out of credits is because my OS ate my lunch and my homework, again — and didn’t allow me the grace of not exploding until AFTER i had deactivated my license credit back onto your server, again.”

We will grow increasingly tired of this and will prefer to just log-in to Apple.com or Adobe.com or Autodesk.com and use the software we want, as we want — just charge the usage to my credit card, thank you.

Google will compete with them all for free.

They are getting there.

The days when we could buy and own software and update our computers once a year or so — remember those days?#@!? — are gone.

Personally, I think it will be a lot nicer and much easier when we do not have to have software on our machines and instead, we merely use it off the cloud.

Good post, Tim. As ever, I am proud to be your friend.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

[Ron Lindeboom]

One of my favorite SNL skits of all time, Steve. Right up there with the Bass-O-Matic, in my humble opinion.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

[Ron Lindeboom]

I misread your question, Bob? Now I’ve never done that before. ;o)

I thought you were talking about another artist basing work on the technique of another.

But directly to your real point: I think that an artist should be able to work their style as long, short, rarely, or often, as they want to and that customers are willing to pay for.

Where I would question things, is when an artist charges a client for work that the client thinks is original and then sells the exact same work to another customer.

I’d be uncomfortable with that. But that’s me.

Your mileage may vary,

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

You can’t copyright an idea, only work.

So in your scenario, Bob, if the second artist can copy the work dead-on without even a single change, it flies in my book.

Otherwise, Windows would have never had a chance or a legal argument, would it?

;o)

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

[walter biscardi] “Definitely a HUGE surprise to me too! :-)”

Yes, that damned Bessie Draft is an ugly thing. ;o)

Thanks for playing along, Walter.

We look forward to learning about it, too.

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

You don’t have to have all or even many of the answers, Jiggy. Our Cinema 4D forum, for example, was started by a guy who was willing to talk about what he did know — which at the time wasn’t much, as he had just bought the program.

There are forums wherein Tim Wilson and I host as means of learning more ourselves, it is part of the COW Way, Grasshopper.

;o)

Best always,

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

You could also go ask the guys on the Telestream Episode forum, as many of the posters there deal with this kind of thing all the time.

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

Yes, and all you have to add to that is the cost of all your legal fees. Oh, and in some jurisdictions, the legal fees of the prevailing party if you lose. Some jurisdictions mandate the loser to pay.

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Milton Hockman] “im working freelance for a production company and i had to download an iTunes song for the project. they told me to add it to my bill. how do you all charge for that? should i only charge them $1? or should I mark it up?”

If you are the “buyer of record” and that song ends up in a production, you are now what we call “totally hosed” and are legally responsible, and so is the production company you work for, when the copyright holders of that song come after you.

Copyright laws are there to give legal protection to the one that owns them, and they are there to act as The Hammer with which to pound, like nails, the ones who infringe upon those copyrights.

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

Nice work, Todd.

Simple, well-lit, and effective.

Has a nice feel to it.

Ron Lindeboom