About FBX SDk License

[Anonymous]

Hi everybody

As all our customers deal with FBX, we finally plan to add an Fbx Import/Export function to our softwares.

Then, the question is : can we do it for free ? The SDK is free, easy to use, multi platform : sounds like perfect ! Even the license looks great : "you can use the SDK for commercial purposes (i) to create a software product with the capability to read and/or write and/or translate Your files, which software product links to the Library". Exactly what we need...

But I you read further in the Prohibited Actions section, you'll find that it's prohibited to "distribute, rent, loan, lease, sell, sublicense, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of the Autodesk Materials, or any rights granted in this Agreement, to any other person without the prior written consent of Autodesk", Autodesk Materials which include binary code libraries...

Here's the problem ? Should I contact Autodesk for a written consent each time we sell one of our component with a fbx importer/exporter inside ? Can someone turn my light on ? Thx.

[luc.vovan]

I think it's been answered by email right?

If not, ping me.

Luc

[Anonymous]

Yes it has been ! Thx about it.

If someone have the same question one day, feel free to mail me.
Have a good day.

[Anonymous]

I am in the same situation. we want to license our code but it uses FBX SDK so we dont know well the restrictions.
Can anybody drop me an answer here? thanks

[daviesm · Accepted solution]

The intent of the license is this. You can build applications that read, write, manipulate FBX data. You can distribute these products as you see fit. However in the 2009.1 release we add this clause.

2.4 You shall place the following statement in the copyright area of (i) the on-line documentation regarding the Developed Software, (ii) the End-User License and/or terms of use for the Developed Software, (iii) the ‘About Box’ or similar notice page of the Developed Software and (iv) any other document related to Developed Software that contains copyright information:
"This software contains Autodesk® FBX® code developed by Autodesk, Inc. Copyright 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights, reserved. Such code is provided "as is" and Autodesk, Inc. disclaims any and all warranties, whether express or implied, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement of third party rights. In no event shall Autodesk, Inc. be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of such code."

In the prohibited section the restriction is that you cannot repackage and distribute the SDK without our written consent. You cannot claim the SDK to be your own, that is what that clause prevents.

Mark Davies

[Anonymous]

Thanks Mark. The problem is that we are developing a framework for 3d application, this means there is no EULA or About box, but I guess we can add your clausules to ours so the end user add the propper credit to autodesk in the applications developed with our framework. Correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks again.

[luc.vovan]

Mark? any idea on this?

[daviesm]

Adding the clause to your license would be sufficient

[PAMD76]

Hello,

I'm aware this is an old thread, I'm looking at submitting an UE4 plugin to their market place and Epic require licenses to be supplied for any 3rd party software. My plugin uses the FBX SDK 2016, I'm also shipping a 3ds Max plugin along side which of course uses the 3ds Max SDK to be built and the FBX Extension SDK, how do I obtain these licenses?

Thanks,

Michael

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have the same question.

And the setense above "In the prohibited section the restriction is that you cannot repackage and distribute the SDK without our written consent. " meationed "consent". What is it? And how can I get it? Thanks.

[daviesm]

You should PM  me to discuss what you are intending to do.

I cannot give consent, it would need to be reviewed. However, I am a good first contact to discuss this.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Hi Mark,

Could you please confirm if we need any type of license for importing FBX files in a bespoke software that we are building for our client?

Thanks,

Manos

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I too would like to use FBX in my commercial product .

Can I do it ?

What do I need to  do in order to agree with license ????

Regards 

S.Ancelot

[daviesm]

See my reply above from 2008 it still stands as the answer

[Anonymous]

Just had a follow up question to this thread. Am I allowed to distribute the FBX sdk .dll files if my application is dynamically linked to them?

[valeriiCLEKF]

Dear @daviesm,

I tried to reach you via PM, but the system says you have not enabled it. Let me ask my question here.

Do I understand right that I don't need written consent from Autodesk to distribute my application which contains FBX SDK (and, if dynamically linked, to provide corresponding shared libraries to end-users), and I only need to insert the copyright notice from Autodesk?

Should I add special notices to CMakeLists.txt if I use parts of code from Autodesk samples there?

Should I add copyright notices about zlib and libxml2?

Also, I could find FBX SDK on the US version of the website but not on the UK version. Does it mean that the SDK is unavailable for UK users, or is it just an issue of the website?

Thanks,
Valerii

[cms9094]

I am in a similar situation. We have a proprietary piece of software that requires the FBX SDK, and I'd like to know if I still need written permission in order to include it as part of a package we might be selling at some point. Obviously, we would never claim it as our own, and take into account everything I've seen in this thread so far.

Still, I've tried contacting Dave through PM, but am not able to. I've even contacted someone else in an attempt to get in touch with Dave, but have not heard back yet.