by Owen Wengerd
Each year, I track how AutoCAD's End User License Agreement (EULA) grows. After a big rewrite in AutoCAD 2012, the EULA stabilized somewhat: AutoCAD 2013 brought only a few minor tweaks, and AutoCAD 2014 introduced no changes whatsoever. The hiatus didn't last long. I guess lawyers have to eat too. Here's a rundown of the changes I noted in the AutoCAD 2015 EULA:
- "Subscription" is now recast as "Relationship Program" and "Services".
- Removed section 2.3, Exceptions to Prohibitions, which was irrelevant and contained a ridiculous attempt to place a burden of proof on the licensee.
- Minor tweaks to cover short term license periods (e.g. for rentals).
- Modified the clause preventing the license from being assumed or assigned as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. The new language provides for transfer subject to a bunch of conditions. This appears to be a laudable change, but I'm no lawyer.
- New section 10, Additional Terms, that includes license terms and definitions specific to Maya, Softimage, and 3ds Max.
- New section 11, Additional Terms: Quantity Take Off, that includes licnse terms specific to the Quantity Take Off software.
- New section 12 with a clause about the Akamai NetSession Interface (aka "download technology").
- Expanded the different types of licensees and usages, apparently to cover rentals and to make "educational" licenses more generic (i.e. there is no more "student license").
For those keeping score, here's a graph showing how the EULA has grown since AutoCAD 2000:
[Owen Wengerd writes about AutoCAD programming at his blog, Outside the Box. More about Mr Wengerd at http://otb.manusoft.com/about ]
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