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Free license account sharing
Hi, I am a student, and I was wondering if it was possible to share the same account ( under the free license) between two people.
Will we be able to use the same account from two different pc at the same time?
Also, What happens if I want to buy an asset from the store; how many license do I get?
Thanks for your time!
I don't think you are supposed to share an account, also not as student using the free version. In exactly that case where you are buying an asset you will receive 1 license, certainly for Editor Extensions that is the case. Also Unity might have other reservations for what you want to do. $$anonymous$$ake 2 accounts, its free. If you have any doubt read the Unity's ToS.
We already have 2 separated account, but we were thinking to share a single account, so if we, for example, decide to buy an asset from the store we could share it, and work together on the project.
I know it might not be possible, that's why I'm looking for your answer^^
This is not the way to do it, as said. Also please read carefully the Asset Store ToS https://unity3d.com/legal/as_terms on asset sharing in general. Restrictions might apply.
Answer by Elthen · Mar 05, 2017 at 08:12 PM
Okay, I've contacted Unity, parts of their answers:
Me: "let's say I am the project owner (A) and I buy an editor extension and a 3d asset pack. Now another person (B) joins, and he doesn't need to use the editor extension, just the 3d asset. The question is, do I have to buy a copy of the editor extension for me(A) and for my collaborator even if he (B) doesn't need to use it?":
In your example, (B) would not need to purchase their own version of the asset unless they intend to use it. However you would both need to purchase the 3d asset pack if you are both using it.
If you are working in the same building/team as the other user, these 3d assets can be shared internally by copying/pasting the asset from the asset folder onto the other computer - this is fine, however this is not allowed if the other user is in a different location.
Me: So, from my understanding, since we are working as a team and I (A) own the assets, we can share everything but my colleague(B) is not allowed to use them outside of our project, right?
Your example is correct, providing that your colleague (B) is working on the project in the same room/building as you.
I hope I've helped!
Answer by tanoshimi · Feb 24, 2017 at 01:55 PM
The Unity EULA is very explicit that licences (even "Personal" licences) may not be shared. You need a separate account each, and you cannot share assets between them - you each must download those assets.
S1.1: "Unity grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license: (a) to install and execute the executable form of the Unity Software, solely for internal use by a single person to develop Your Project Content during the applicable term"
S1.2 "You may install the Unity Software on both a primary and a secondary computer or operating system, solely for your convenience, but only for use by a single person."
In addition to this answer i will add the requested assetstore information. The important parts are in the AssetStore Terms, mainly the "2. END-USER's Rights and Obligations" in the Appendix 1
Basically the Assetstore has two major license-groups:
Content license
Editor extension license
While most content licenses just grant a person the right to use the asset in as many projects of his as he wants, an Editor extension license is usually a per-seat license. That means usual "content / assets" need to be bought once by the project owner, even when mutliple people work on the project. Editor extensions have to be purchased per seat. So if there are 3 people working on the project each one need a seperate license.
Editor extension licenses basically follow a similar logic as the Unity licenses. So each person needs his own license.
Content / Asset licenses come in very different forms which might restrict the usage of an asset or add additional terms.
Note that "asset sharing" is not allowed. So if 3 people work on the same project, all assets used should be purchased by the project owner. Collaborators usually don't need to buy the asset again, but they are not allowed to use the asset in a different project that isn't owned by the person who purchased that asset.
Some examples:
Person A starts a project and buys some assets. Person B and C join the project and can work with those assets within that project. If person B wants to start a project on his own, he can't use the asset that person A bought. Only person A is allowed to use that asset in his projects. So person A can also develop for example 3 different projects and use the same asset in each of them.
I'm not sure if it is possible for a collaborator to "bring" assets into a project owned by someone else. This creates general problems. If the person no longer works on a project his assets would need to be removed from the project. That's why it's better when the project owner buys all assets for a project.
Be warned that the terms explicit forbid to distribute purchased assets in any form. So technically a $$anonymous$$m that isn't located at the same place would have a problem. I've seen a lot projects on Github and similar sites which included payed assets and uploaded the content of those assets. If the project is available to the public, this is actually a heavy violation of the terms.
NOTE: This is how I understood the terms. Don't take my word on it. If you fear legal issues, contact Unity directly or contact a lawyer. Also note that the terms are suspect to changes over time, so check the posting dates^^.
Thanks everyone for the answers!
I still have a doubt, let's say I am the project owner (A) and I buy an editor extension and a 3d asset pack. Now another person (B) joins, and he doesn't need to use the editor extension, just the 3d asset. The question is, do I have to buy a copy of the editor extension for me(A) and for my collaborator even if he (B) doesn't need to use it?
Anyway your answer helped a lot, I'll probably contact Unity as you suggested.
Yes, this is one of those edge-cases where it's hard to give a clear answer. Currently editor extensions has to be part of the actual project (at least when you load them from the assetstore). If it's in the project then usually everybody that works with that project would need it as well. If you somehow can remove it from the shared project files you "may" only need one.
ps: just in case you haven't read it yet: It's not allowed to mix different Unity license types. So it's not allowed to have a $$anonymous$$m that is using the personal version and only one is having a plus or pro license for publishing. All on your $$anonymous$$m have to use the same license type. The only exception is "third party assets" (like those from the assetstore). Though this makes it even more uncertain who exactly counts as $$anonymous$$m member and who is just an external content provider.
In the end it's more a question of fairness.
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