Autodesk Education Lisence and Content Rights

[Anonymous]

I have an education lisence for Autodesk Maya for the purposes of creating scientific animations. Are there any legal restrictions with how I can use the animations which I've created WITHIN my educational institution?

[dgorsman]

Yes.  The EDU products are for learning only.  Using it for professional purposes as part of your profession (ie. running a school), is not appropriate.  As an example, lets say you have an EDU copy of Revit.  You could not use that to design a new building for the campus.

[Darin.Green]

You're fine as long as it'll only be used for educational purposes and not monetary gain. Also, if you're still a student or teacher.

Read up on the licensing terms for more information.

[Anonymous]

dgorsman, thanks for the quick reply. So to clarify, if I'm an educator, I cannot use the Education Lisence to teach students (i.e., create animations) if this is part of my profession and I'm being paid to do so, (even if this is a public institution)?

[dgorsman]

Hmmm, no that should be OK.  There are two types of EDU licenses, one for institutions and one for students; both are free, but are for different purposes.  The institutional license is for computer labs on campus, the student license is for their personal computers.  You should be able to use the former to create materials for teaching.

Your original description of "... for the purpose of scientific animations" didn't include any mention of teaching.  My interpretation of that was for scientific research on campus, which as a non-learning activity would require a commercial license.

[Anonymous]

@dgorsman, I'm assuming you are not a lawyer but I'm going to try to beat this question to death with one last example for clarification: I need to create a 3D animation of a classical Physics experiment. Those animations would be inserted into a Physics course syllabus, so that a professor is able to better teach said Physics concept to students. This course is taught at a public institution. Can Autodesk's free education lisence be used to create the animations to be inserted into a course to teach students?  If you are unsure, whom should I speak with at Autodesk for legal advice?

The reason I'm rephrasing my question yet again, is because maybe Autodesk's definition of "Educational Purposes" is only to teach the Autodesk software itself. (i.e., use Autodesk's software for free with an education lisence if you are learning and/or teaching the Autodesk software to others).

[TravisNave]

I would venture to say no on that because it is not used for your internal class needs, but rather published as instruction for other classroom needs.  The educational versions are free to use in your classroom, but all work done in them an only exist for instruction within the bounds of that class.  Nothing can be used from that classroom in any function outside of that class, including publications, videos, youtube, non-profit, etc.  Once the intellectual data created is used beyond the scope of your classroom, you need a commercial license.  If it is just your work inside of your classroom only and no other classroom, educator, students, or likewise are going to use this instruction outside of your classroom, then it would be okay.