Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

I wish Graphisoft didn't surcharge resale buyers over $2000.

vfrontiers
Enthusiast
So I have two keys and as it turns out, the economy stinks and I need to sell one of my "assets" to make ends meet. I figure that with the investment made in ArchiCAD over the past 10+ years (and 10 before that with other companies money) that there would be some equity in it.

So following proper procedure, I contact my reseller to find out how to go about selling (I've done it before, so I knew there were some hoops to jump thru). It is here I find out that after I sell my ArchiCAD Key to a 3rd party, THEY will HAVE TO PAY over $2000.00 to register the key in their name!

Ok... so I flipped my lid... and shot back an angry email... but the only response I got... "Well, try reselling AutoCAD" ...

Yes, I am still miffed. I just wonder how many people out there actually know about this policy. The policy has changed over the past 20 years. I am curious about when and how I actually AGREED to this policy. But, like everyone else here, I gloss of the EULA's. Apparently this policy changed around April this year. I am not clear how a company can sell me a product (asset) and then continue, after the fact, to create policy that removes all equity from it.

And the real questions is WHY? "How could it possibly cost $2000.00 to change a name and address in a database? To be fair (someone has to) $600 of it is a FORCED enrollment in the ArchiPLUS program. So at least the buyer will get the next upgrade (if it happens within a year).

Sorry for venting. I love ArchiCAD. I like the people that work there. I like my reseller. I just think this policy is WRONG. So on my tombstone will hang 2 ArchiCAD 12 keys (can't afford to upgrade any longer with this policy in place).
Duane

Visual Frontiers

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Anonymous
Not applicable
Well, apparently I should have seen this obscure news letter on the GS UK website (to which I am not subscribed or even notified about!). I won't post the direct link for the moment, as I don't know if it is for UK users only.

This was in BIMnews February 09.
Welcome

Hello and welcome to the second edition of BIMnews.

As staff numbers fluctuate in these difficult times I’ve been asked by several people about what they can do with their spare copies of ArchiCAD. The short answer is: keep them because you can’t sell them to someone else. I’m sure many people will find this difficult to understand in the context of being able to resell other items, (e.g., car, computer, unwanted gifts, etc.) so let me explain why this is the only (legal) course of action… but first let me introduce the other content of this issue.

When you buy ArchiCAD you don’t actually buy the software – you buy a personal (individual or firm) license to use the software. This means you can use the software for as long as you like but you are not able to transfer it to someone else. This right of use, and the associated limitations, are described in the End User License Agreement which pops up when you first use the software. Perhaps an analogy might explain this more clearly. Think of a hire car. Imagine that you make one payment and enter into a contract that enables you to use the car for as long as you like. The car remains the property of the hire company and you have every right to use it whenever and wherever you want but because the hire contract is with you it is not transferable to someone else. This simple analogy isn’t perfect but I hope it illustrates how software licensing works – it is a very complicated subject. Virtually all software is sold as a “license to use” so why is this?

The answer lies in intellectual know-how. When you buy a car you receive a product and the intellectual know-how remains with the manufacturer (which it protects with patents, etc). When you buy software you’re not buying a product in the traditional sense – it has more in common with, say, music where you have a right to listen but not to copy. For software to work it has to include and reveal all the intellectual know-how of the author, so there’s no separation between the “product” and the intellectual know-how. For software authors to be able to protect their intellectual property rights they have to sell a license to use, and not the actual software. Again this is a very simple description of an immensely complex topic.

So in addition to remaining on the right side of the law a further good reason for retaining your spare licenses is that projects will start/restart once the recession begins to ease and staff numbers will have to grow again.

If you have any questions or comments on BIMnews, or other subjects, please contact me at abaikie@graphisoft.co.uk

Best regards


Alan Baikie
Managing Director, Graphisoft UK Ltd
So to sum it up - Tough titty - you can't sell it.

I get all the waffle about intellectual know-how and how us not owning it means we can't sell it on, I still don't understand why we can't transfer the licence to someone else? If you could do it before, why not now?

Disgusted of Wiltshire signing off.
Eduardo Rolon
Moderator
The music analogy is BS, when I buy music I CAN give or sell the CD to whomever I want. I can copy them to make a backup but I cannot keep the copy and sell the physical media. I can even give away all the MP3s that I have bought from Amazon.
Eduardo Rolón AIA NCARB
AC27 US/INT -> AC08

Macbook Pro M1 Max 64GB ram, OS X 10.XX latest
another Moderator

Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
Alan Baikie's logic is just absurd, beyond the fact that his allegations as to licensing and transfer are not born out by reality, e.g., Adobe (described below).

Further, that the license is for some 'intellectual property', that is patently false, as the license preclude decompiling or reverse engineering ... the 'intellectual property' is the source code, which Graphisoft does NOT license to anyone.

Alan Baikie's statement that UK customers cannot even sell the license with a transfer fee is even more outrageous than the $2,100 in fees GS US intends to charge.

Again, kudos to the Belgium and Portugal resellers (and no doubt others) for using their brains and not what they sit on.

Cheers,
Karl
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
Anonymous
Not applicable
ich verstehe die Diskussion nicht. das ist doch bei allen software häusern so? oder sind wir hier einfach in Deutschland anders als die US.

cadiac
Anonymous
Not applicable
Dito!
Ich habe letztens eine andere CAD-Software verkauft und festgestellt dass es auch bei anderen so gehandhabt wird.
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
Guys, in English, please.
This is an English language Forum and I would say 95% of its members do not speak German.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27
Anonymous
Not applicable
Karl wrote:
Again, kudos to the Belgium and Portugal resellers (and no doubt others) for using their brains and not what they sit on.
It's good to hear this Karl!... Finally Portugal is been known for something else than it's "well" paid soccer player.
Anonymous
Not applicable
english - is this the regelemantation in this public forum?

cadiac
Anonymous
Not applicable
you find the same disucussion in a vectorworks forum

here is the comment - you can save money!! first license + registration is cheaper than you buy a new one!

sorry forum is in german. you can read the numbers.
---
11.12.2008
Vectorworks Architektur 2008 - deutsche Erstlizenz zu verkaufen.
Vectorworks Architektur 2008 - deutsche Erstlizenz zu verkaufen.
Komplettversion inkl. OVP, CD-Rom, Dongle, Handbücher, Fachbuch "Inside Vectorworks".

Gesamtpreis: 2400.- Euro VB zzgl. MwSt..

Bei der notwendigen Umregistrierung inkl. Update auf Vectorworks Architektur 2009 fallen weitere Kosten an - Sie sparen aber gegenüber einem Neukauf über 300.- Euro.
---

www.arcintern.de/forum/detail_msg.php3?msg=2076368&referer=date_1

cadiac
Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
cadiac wrote:
english - is this the regelemantation in this public forum?

cadiac
I don't know such English word: regelemantation.
But the language of the Forum is English.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27

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