Vegas Pro ... how many computers can I install it on?

[Gromit137]

Thanks in advance. I'm thinking of getting an ADK rackmount computer with Vegas Pro pre-installed.
How many computers does Sony allow you to install the program on?

[aedipuss]

do you want the official sony answer? one of course, per license. if you are in a corporate environment that does audits and compliance checks, you need a license per machine. at home, how many machines do you have..... it will install on them all.

[edit] one running copy at a time per license is the actual wording. it can be installed on more than one machine.

[Gromit137]

I thought there was an 'activation' process ... where you have to go on the Internet to activate. I have a program called Dreamweaver where you can install it on 2 computers... if you try a 3rd... to activate... they know (while you're trying to activate) that it has already been installed on 2 other machines. You must DE-activate on one of them to install again.

[aedipuss]

sony software isn't that strict. there is an activation, but i don't think they keep track of it at this time.

[edDV]

Last I looked Sony Vegas allows multiple (maybe 2-3) installs but you pledge to use only one at a time in the terms. Since I own multiple copies, I don't know how they track it. I have more difficulty with the consumer version of Sony Soundforge Audio Studio that is strict about activation of MPeg/MP3 encoders on only one machine.

[deadrats]

Thanks in advance. I'm thinking of getting an ADK rackmount computer with Vegas Pro pre-installed.
How many computers does Sony allow you to install the program on?

your question isn't as easily answered as you might think.

as a general rule of thumb, all providers of proprietary software feel that they do not sell you software, they sell you a license to use the software and as a general rule of thumb they take the stance of 1 license per install pc or another common licensing term is 1 running instance per license at any one time.

here's were it gets a tad tricky: the courts, in both the united states and in other countries, have not always agreed with this view. in california there have been a number of court cases were the courts found that so-called "shrink-wrapped" licensed are invalid and thus unenforceable. the reason is that the end user doesn't have the opportunity to read the licensing terms prior to purchasing the product, it is only once you start installing the software that the licensing terms are presented to you and by then even if you don't agree you can't return the opened software, thus the courts have held that shrink-wrap licenses are a no-go.

further complicating matters is the fact that some pieces of software rely on open source gpl'd components, which means that they themselves are violating someone else's software license or others still infringe on some other company's patents, which means they can't really bitch about you violating their intellectual property rights since the rights are not theirs in the first place.

then you have the reality were many courts around the world, (primarily in europe) have held in most cases that software is not patentable.

and finally we have this reality: often times, if you read the licensing terms of the software, you are not allowed to use it for "commercial purposes".

for instance, elecard's converter studio avc hd edition prohibits using the software for commercial purposes, if you want to use it for commercial purposes they want you to purchase a commercial license at a huge premium. the funny thing is that there is no difference at all between the commercial and non-commercial version, they just want to charge you more if you plan on using it for commercial purposes. the best part? elecard is a russian software company, russia, where software patent and copyright laws are practically non-existant, to the point one could argue that they, along with the chinese, don't have the concept of copyright, yet they want to limit how you use their software in the united states, you just have to love the set of balls they have.

all in all, i'm kind of reminded of a huge stink that made it's way through the courts here in nj between the cable companies and numerous bars. the bars would purchase, just the same way you and i would, a pay per view event for the patrons to watch and the cable companies started claiming that the bars were stealing cable, some even going as far as to try and press criminal charges against the bar owners (all such cases were thrown out of court). the lawsuits did rain down though, but the cable companies didn't make much headway.

the cable companies basically wanted the bar owner to pay a fee per head, i.e. pay a viewing fee for every patron that showed up to watch the event. when they couldn't do it through the courts, they changed the terms of their service and basically strong armed the bar owners with a threat that if they didn't give the cable company a cut of the door the cable company would just disconnect their service.

the end result was that some bars refused to give into extortion and just started stealing the cable outright, some told the companies to stick it up their ass and continued operating sans cable, some kept the basic service but refused to buy pay per view events, some bought 'fixed' cable boxes and got the pay per view for free, and some paid up, raised their prices to compensate and eventually saw their business decline to the point they went out of business.

satellite changed the cable companies stance quite a bit, as many bar owners jumped ship and went the disk route and from what i understand now that the phone companies are getting in on the tv action alot of the cable companies strong arming is coming to an end.

[videobread]

(I know this is an old thread) Same question for Vegas Pro 11. Has anything changed? I wanted to load it on another one of my machines so I can still work while encoding. Will the thing not activate or shut down or something. Is Sony as anal as Windows with their constant validation on updates etc. (PS: I have actually purchased SVP11 from Sony and have the original disks etc.)

[budwzr]

Why don't you open a support ticket at SCS, explain the situation, and see what they say?

[vkmast]

Sony Creative Software Knowledgebase gives this:
Running program on more than one workstation

Published 01/10/2003 12:00 AM | Updated 10/04/2010 03:35 PM
Can I run my Sony Creative Software application on more than one PC?
Our licensing agreement permits you to install the software on as many machines as you own, as long as you are not running the programs at the same time. For instance, you can install the software on your home machine and on your laptop. You are not allowed to install the software on multiple machines if you are going to be using them simultaneously, such as in a home studio setting. If you are going to run the software concurrently on more than one machine, you would need to purchase a separate license for each computer.
Click this link and you will be taken to the Updates page. This is where all the installation files reside.
Note that when you install the software on a different computer you will need to complete the registration process again. Register the software as you did the first time to unlock the program on each machine. You can register online directly within the software or on our website through our online form.

[videobread]

Thanks. Right from the horse's mouth. Sounds like Sony is not as Anal as MS.

[HoosierGuy]

I have Sony Vegas Studio and use it on my laptop and desktop, but mostly laptop. I would be ticked if I could not use it on both even though I don't use it much on my desktop.

[timtak]

8 years later I wonder if Vegas can still be installed on as many computers as you own, now that Vegas has been bought by the new company. One of the things I like a lot about my Vegas 12 is that I can/have installed it on three PCs and a couple of laptops. It is only me that uses them and never more than one at once.

[vkmast]

@timtak
Please read https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/vegas-pro-faqs-and-troubleshooting-guides--104787/ point 9.

[timtak]

Thank you vkmast, very much indeed.

I was considering upgrading but if I could only use the upgrade on main two computers (home and work), then the other three computers (laptops and beach house) would be Vegasless. So I think I will stay with my version 12 for a while.

[vkmast]

@timtak
From https://www.magix.info/uk/forum/deactivate-activate--1182177/#ca1314065 : "Originally this could only be done once per month, however this restriction was dropped. As an example, this enables you to have a laptop installation as well a 'home PC' installation and switch computers for example when on holiday."

I have not checked this myself, but you could make a pre-sales enquiry at infoservice@magix.net to confirm.