Student Version of Maya For YouTube

[Anonymous]

One of my friends, he's making animations for YouTube. He is using a student version of Maya. I asked if he was going to monetize them, to which he said 'yes'. Is this breaking the terms of use he agreed to? He definitely has a student version, since he's a jobless student.

So he's making money off the revenue generated by ads from people watching the video.

[matthew.d · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

Welcome to the community.

Monetization of the student version is not allowed, as it is being used for-profit purchases. This is breaking the terms he has agreed to and is in violation of his license agreement. I would strongly advise against posting any videos made with the student version on YouTube or any where else with ad revenue and also that he take those videos down. Sorry there is not better news.

Here are some notes in the software license agreement:

• According to the Software License Agreement accompanying educational institutional versions Autodesk software programs, those software programs may not be used for any commercial purposes, or other for-profit purposes.
• According to the Software License Agreement accompanying Student versions Autodesk software programs, Student versions may not be used for any training or commercial purposes, professional purposes, commercial training purposes, or other for-profit purposes.

[Anonymous]

Here's a question from me:
I understand that student versions usually have a low level metadata in whatever they create. That also most likely extends to renders. But, those renders are compiled into a video, which is then uploaded to YouTube. YouTube is not able to release the original uploaded video, is it? Doesn't that mean he can do as he wants, undetected?

[matthew.d]

Hi @Anonymous,

This should not really be a question of will he or will he not get caught, as I do not know or can I comment on YouTube's ability to release the original upload or not. I relate my interpretation of what you are saying, on the same level as trying to put a major movie on YouTube. Those get taken down all the time, even though by what you have said they are technically not the original. Just because the original is not released does not mean YouTube does not store the original metadata.

This is more a matter of is he knowingly violating the terms of the license agreement.

[Anonymous]

Alright, thanks. He's a minor, by the way, so what of legal consequences? Would Autodesk knowingly sue and get him a felony? That would be bad press, though...

[matthew.d]

Hi @Anonymous,

I do not know what would happen specially, these are a lot of hypotheticals. It would probably depend on the severity of the violation. Please note that I am not legal team, nor can I speak for how they, or the courts for that matter will react to every situation.

[Anonymous]

Alright, thanks. I'll try and get him off of Maya and onto Blender.

[Anonymous]

Hi @matthew.d,

Thank you for your answer. You mentioned uploading on ad-based video hosts is violation of the agreement. How about Vimeo? Can I upload my work-in-progress videos on Vimeo or even the host of my own website? I'd like to show my WIPs if it's not breaking the agreement.

Thank you,

Hadi

[matthew.d]

Hi @Anonymous,

The educational license cannot be used for any commercial purposes and is for learning only, see the license agreement here. I believe there are still small ads on the Vimeo video pages. If you are just looking to share your work, I would suggest trying out A360. It's free for students, you can upload and share links your work. It also may give you more functionality in some cases, depending on the program you are using.

[Anonymous]

i really dont see the big deal if hes only posting it on youtube. youtube doesnt sell the models. i can only see this of being a big deal is if he actualy treis to make a profit from it. i know probly about 100 channels that use the student version to show models or learning how to 

[KhariA]

This statement is very incorrect. I'm not sure how you came to this conclusion. 

You can still upload to Youtube and Vimeo. You have the option to chose whether to monetize that video or not. 

If you disable ads you are fine. Ads will not show up on the video. You do not need to upload to some obscure site. 

I had this issue a while back with one of my animation videos that went viral. Autodesk contacted me directly telling me to disable monetization on the video. (I was young, didnt know better)  I complied and they said all was good. 

Saying "I believe there are still small ads on the Vimeo video pages" Is extremely incorrect because 0 ads show up on unmonetized work. I'm not sure how you reached this conclusion. 

[Anonymous]

So, you can upload to you tube with student version, as long as you don't put adds? 

[matthew.d]

Hi @Anonymous,

No, there are ads on the YouTube site itself, for example:

As they are profiting from the content on their site, any content uploaded is contributing considered monetization. The educational software can only be used for educational purposes. If you wish to share content with your friends or family, you may want to consider loading it to a private cloud folder. Students and educators can also receive A360 access free from us, it is a great place to upload and share work.

[Anonymous]

and uploading the models for free? : ad free site too?

[mspeer]

Hi!

@Anonymous , please check your other 2 threads for responses:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-forum/how-do-they-know-when-a-model-was-made-by-their-software/td-p/8093419

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-forum/donations-for-free-models/td-p/8101864

[Anonymous]

Hi is there anyway in which you can upload videos online and if you get any revenue you can donate it to either autodesk or any charities

[mspeer]

If you used the commercial version to create the content, yes, then you can use the content to create revenue and use it in the way you want.

You are not allowed to use a non-commercial version to create revenue.