For context, I want to run a small personal gig (offering stuff on Patreon). Nothing too fancy.
In order to do that, I would need to use the Adobe suite, Windows, some audio and video effects, all requiring a commercial license.
In theory, I start to make money. How would Microsoft and Adobe know that I don’t pay for their software?
If I use some audio effects, how would their owners even be able to tell / find my work? We’re talking about basic sound effect, like rain, door knocks etc.
I’ve always been confused by this
There are plenty of artists who use pirated software to create shit but haven’t got into trouble, the trick is to block the network requests and strip the Metadata.
And MS/Adobe would not go for a small patreon artist because they know that if they go too far, people will be pushed towards their competitors, which they don’t want since their business model hinges on being the most widely used software and thus not allowing any competition to grow.
It’s in the deliverable and the fact that you’re making money with a pirated suite. It exposes you and your business to a lawsuit so expensive you’ll be run out of business for life. It’s like a business and financial death sentence.
This isn’t a moral question. It’s one thing to pirate for personal use, quite another to build a business on pirated software. Especially when the consequences of getting caught are so severe.
There is a theoretical possibility, but you have to be practical. Its upto an individual to decide.
Hey dude, it’s up to the individual. Sure. But know the consequences. These big companies can squash you and your business like a bug. You want that sword of damocles hanging over your financial head? That’s on you.
One thing I notice, all the guys who do this for a living are warning OP about basing a business on pirated software (and assets). It’s only the piracy advocates who say otherwise.
It’s not a moral question for me. Strictly practical.
Plenty of people ignore The Law and have zero repercussions. This IS a piracy board after all
But I’ve also been in situations where we needed to demand proof of a valid license from contractors. That usually is because the company was very strict about dotting every i and so forth (either government work or we wanted governments as clients) or as a “random security assessment” that was really an excuse to stiff someone on the bill because they pissed us off.
At the end of the day, any form of piracy is a risk. You can theoretically be the one person who gets made an example of because you pirated a sniper elite game or something. You probably won’t. But said risk factor goes up exponentially when you are a business (and contractors are businesses).
As for pushing people toward competitors: What competitors? In the video editing space there are arguments that tools like Resolve and the like are competitive with Premier. In terms of 2d art and touch ups? Photoshop has no competition, period. And once you look at the entire Adobe suite… yeah. That is why almost every single youtuber’s “I tried out something that wasnt’ Adobe for a month” almost invariably boils down to “And I went back to Adobe”. All of which also ignores the ease of finding staff who don’t need to learn a whole new toolset.
If OP JUST pirates the Adobe stuff? I know a lot of artists who would still say “Serves them right” because they “play fair” and license everything and, quite honestly, are “okay” with the annual fees because there are new features on the regular. But if OP also steals assets as they said they would: All sympathy goes out the window instantly.