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How do companies know if I use cracked software or assets for my personal gig? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's encoded into the file itself which license you have

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don’t know about Adobe but I think it’s true for some software.

My previous employer (~30 person company) got in trouble for a Fusion360 file that was sent to a customer after being edited by an intern’s pirated copy. Employees and interns typically used a different licensed CAD software.

I think the pirated file being opened at a larger company tipped them off, but I don’t know how they ultimately tracked us down.

That being said, I personally wouldn’t want the stress of using pirated software, let alone pirated assets in a professional setting.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Adobe lists it on their support website that serial numbers get put into files and there's even a little tool to check if your serial number registered properly so you can make sure to claim the rights to your own work.

I definitely wouldn't want to risk it unless you passed the files through some intermediary programs that stripped that kind of metadata out.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't know why you're being downvoted, because this is a real practice

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

There's a page on Adobes website about them putting the serial number of your license in files you create. It's usually not a "we immediately know" type thing, but a "if we find out and check, it's pretty obvious to us" way. I'm not sure how else people think they would enforce the licenses anyways. It's not just a licence to use the software, but to use the final product commercially.