Software Licensing: Are you in a ‘hot’ seat? Software licensing policies vary between manufacturers. Some give you the right to install the software on as many machines as you wish for the price you paid for the box. Others have a price for one "seat" with additional charges if you elect to install it on another computer, or on a network. If you install software on more computers than the manufacturer allows for the price you paid, you may indeed be sitting in a "hot" seat! When you install most software you have to click "OK" to assent to the "EULA" or End User License Agreement before the software will actually install. Many users just click OK without ever reading it. Most EULAs are legal mumbo jumbo which indicate very specifically what end-users may and may not do with the software, including describing the installation policies. Most EULAs specify that the end-user does not actually own the software they just paid for, they just own the right to install and use the software in accordance with the policies established by the manufacturer. Software licensing fees are somewhat of a "hidden charge". You may have researched the relative prices of competing products, only to find out after your purchase that the manufacturer wants to charge you more to install the product on your laptop as well as your office computer, for example. Or the maker of a worship planning product may want to charge you more money to add additional songbooks to the core product. These are examples of hidden charges. Many church musicians are bi-vocational, and thus do a lot of work at home. It is somewhat unreasonable for a software vendor to insist that you pay more money to install it at home as well as on the office computer, since you can't possibly be both places at once. Software vendors that charge on a "per seat" basis generally offer some kind of site license, so you may pay X dollars for 1-5 additional seats, or a blanket fee to install on as many machines at your church and home as you wish. The bottom line is to check the software licensing policy carefully BEFORE purchasing, or at the very least read the EULA before clicking OK. Most software is returnable with the receipt within 30 days of purchase, particularly when purchased with a credit card. |