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I received a VW file yesterday, that when I attempted to open, bumped me to the web browser and a Nemetshek site that told me the file I was opening was created with an illegal copy of Vectorworks.

OK, I think, I have seen this once before a few years ago, when I used version 2009. I was still able to open the file.

No longer. 2012 seems to not allow a file from an illegal copy to open.

Is this the case ? and/or am I doing something wrong.

SB.

2012 Spotlight SP2.

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  • 3 months later...

I've come across the same issue in the past year. It is incredibly frustrating. I work for a company that purchased a decent number of licenses over the past few years and when I get something that I cannot open it is difficult to explain to my boss that yes we spent all this money on software and no I cannot open the file someone else created.

Yes I am 100% against software piracy and do not support it in any way. But from a Nemetschek/Vectorworks perspective instead of solving the problem by stopping the person using the illegal software you are stopping the person who has a legal copy from working on a project with your software. This seems highly counterproductive. There has to be some way of stopping the use of the pirated products without making it more difficult to work with a legal copy.

I wish people wouldn't use illegal copies of the program or send me files created in it, but in the industry I work in we need to be able to work very quickly and contacting vectorworks is not a acceptable answer.

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Yes I am 100% against software piracy and do not support it in any way. But from a Nemetschek/Vectorworks perspective instead of solving the problem by stopping the person using the illegal software you are stopping the person who has a legal copy from working on a project with your software. This seems highly counterproductive. There has to be some way of stopping the use of the pirated products without making it more difficult to work with a legal copy.

I wish people wouldn't use illegal copies of the program or send me files created in it, but in the industry I work in we need to be able to work very quickly and contacting vectorworks is not a acceptable answer.

Totally agree. NM is shooting the messenger here.

The work-around (which is what I am doing) is to open in my version of 2009, then save then re-open in 2012. Absurd to have to do this.

Steve B.

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  • Administrator

Hi All,

We as a courtesy provide a service to remove any file restriction at the moment of the purchase of a legal license. So if you still work with someone that owns an illegal license of Vectorworks, please mention this to them. I can help to avoid this frustration.

As kevin mentioned above feel free to contact me at jalmansa@vectorworks.net

or your local distributor for additional information.

http://www.vectorworks.net/international/

Juan Almansa

Product Support Marketing

Nemetschek Vectorworks

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So what you are saying is that a file created on a so-called illegal version, cannot be opened unless we/you can track down the user and have them upgrade to a legal version.

Is that correct ?.

As note: I don't "work" with these people. I often times have no clue who the original user/file creator might be. Usually it's a file for an event that is visiting our theater at some point in the future and is sent as an -email alongside all the other tech info.

And to be clear and if I'm reading your (Juan) post correctly, you remove the restriction caused by the file being created on an illegal copy, the moment the user of the illegal software upgrades to a legal version. What would be the point of that ?. Once they upgrade to legal, they can send the damned file again, with NM having no need to get involved.

And how do I deal with a file that comes up illegal that has been given to a advance person who's not the creator of the file. We potentially can have many layers of folks between the original and an end-user. So everybody now has to track down the illegal copy user and "correct" his/her errant ways.

That's not exactly the way to encourage folks to want to use the software. I do understand the problem of pirated software, but this is absurd and doesn't exactly endear me to Nemetschek as a customer

EDIT: And I think that I just now understand that the file that was created with an illegal copy is still useless, until the user pays up and VW converts it to be legal.

Edited by Steve B.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have to say I agree with NM on this one.

However, as with educational watermarked versions, maybe NM could let you open it with a giant, shaded "PIRATED" sign over the page.

You could still use the file but some advanced features might be unavailable.

With watermarked files, you have to be careful not to copy any object in the file to any other file, or that file becomes watermarked as well.

I got a watermarked file and when I mentioned it to the author of the file, he was very embarrassed that he was still using his educational version. He immediately bought a license to avoid the same situation in the future.

It's funny that people seem to be unanimously against pirating of VW software, but don't mind doing business with the pirates. (Or doing business with the businesses who are doing business with the pirates)

I guess they have no problem using stolen TVs and computers. Hey, they weren't the one that stole it.

Jim

Edited by jamesmise
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

For several years we allowed users to open files created with an illegal, warned the user that the file was created with an illegal version and sent them to a web page that gave them all the details about why they were seeing the message.

To my knowledge, because of our new protection system, all the illegal versions are versions prior to 2009, so people have been warned for the past 5 years that they were dealing with a user of illegal software.

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For several years we allowed users to open files created with an illegal, warned the user that the file was created with an illegal version and sent them to a web page that gave them all the details about why they were seeing the message.

To my knowledge, because of our new protection system, all the illegal versions are versions prior to 2009, so people have been warned for the past 5 years that they were dealing with a user of illegal software.

That assumes you deal continually with a person using a pirated version, which is (in my experience) typically not the case. It's usually a one time (and infrequent) experience, with a file sent sometimes from an agent for a visiting act, or more likely from the LD/Superviser themselves, who might well be aware they are using a pirated version. In that scenario, I don't know this person from Adam and while I will tell them that I cannot open the file (and why), I am in no position to play Software Pirate Police with them, nor should I be asked too.

I simply find the change in policy extreme. The older method of simply opening a web page to notify of the pirated copy was sufficient. If you wanted to expand, possibly keep track of the IP address that keeps reporting attempts to open a pirated file, and/or keep track of the user license and then an e-mail to the user that supporting pirated versions is in violation of the spirit of the en-user agreement, might well suffice.

SB

Edited by Steve B.
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Hi Steve,

I was in your position a couple of times, specially when I was communicating with LD's from US, whose Companies for example were invited to a Festival, the "Illegal Copy weblink" popped up...

What I want to say is: You are right, its not your business to deal with that Stuff, but I think you are "complaining" to wrong direction.

"They" shall supply pdf's, or legal Plans on dwg or vwx.

You just can't do your supporting Job, if you don't get proper plans.

Which includes that you can open and print supplied Files.

In the past I mailed the Weblink to the Supplier of the illegal file, and asked for proper work plans, on pdf, till the problem is solved.

I've never ever had any bad response on that.

reagards Horst M.

Edited by Horst M.
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  • 4 years later...

I need help IMMEDIATELY I been trying to open a 2014 VWX document into the 2016 VWX document ,Nemetshek site that told me the file I was opening was created with an illegal copy of Vectorworks. I need a way to convert my document because I have work to do for TOMORROW, I been trying to ask for help by email but nothing... PLEASE ANSWER ME with a solution 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
27 minutes ago, Mndoza said:

I need help IMMEDIATELY I been trying to open a 2014 VWX document into the 2016 VWX document ,Nemetshek site that told me the file I was opening was created with an illegal copy of Vectorworks. I need a way to convert my document because I have work to do for TOMORROW, I been trying to ask for help by email but nothing... PLEASE ANSWER ME with a solution 

 

Make sure to get a legitimate copy of the file from the creator as recommended above, or at the very least PDF exports that you can import into a legitimate version of Vectorworks. Tech Support will not be open until 9AM EST tomorrow in any case. 

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On 27.10.2016 at 0:21 AM, Mndoza said:

I need help IMMEDIATELY I been trying to open a 2014 VWX document into the 2016 VWX document ,Nemetshek site that told me the file I was opening was created with an illegal copy of Vectorworks. I need a way to convert my document because I have work to do for TOMORROW, I been trying to ask for help by email but nothing... PLEASE ANSWER ME with a solution 

 

Two reasons to refuse working with illegal VW files under any circumstances, no matter how big time pressure is:

 

1) Call me an old man, but I remeber times in the 80's an 90's of the last century, when lightplots were papersheets transferred via faxmachine. ( For the young ones here: A faxmachine is a device that analogically transports black and white pixels via analogue telephone cables... ) No cellphones, no e-mail, no internet  at that time. We even drove to the venue with a big van full of stuff and diddn't have a lightplot at all...No one can tell me that it is essential to have a computer or Vectorworks for setting up a basic lighting system on stage. Of course, today we have complex shows where CAD is embedded in the workflow, but these shows DO have a budget, so there should be a budget for software licenses as well. No reason at all to work with a piracy copy under these circumstances.

 

2) I consider myself professional, so I pay for my software licenses. The costs of these licenses art part of my pricing. Any competitior who works with an illegeal copy may have the advantage to throw me out of the market, since he is simply cheaper by this amount. So it's my own intrest not to work with such files.

Edited by halfcouple
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16 hours ago, halfcouple said:

 

Two reasons to refuse working with illegal VW files under any circumstances, no matter how big time pressure is:

 

1) Call me an old man, but I remeber times in the 80's an 90's of the last century, when lightplots were papersheets transferred via faxmachine. ( For the young ones here: A faxmachine is a device that analogically transports black and white pixels via analogue telephone cables... ) No cellphones, no e-mail, no internet  at that time. We even drove to the venue with a big van full of stuff and diddn't have a lightplot at all...No one can tell me that it is essential to have a computer or Vectorworks for setting up a basic lighting system on stage. Of course, today we have complex shows where CAD is embedded in the workflow, but these shows DO have a budget, so there should be a budget for software licenses as well. No reason at all to work with a piracy copy under these circumstances.

 

2) I consider myself professional, so I pay for my software licenses. The costs of these licenses art part of my pricing. Any competitior who works with an illegeal copy may have the advantage to throw me out of the market, since he is simply cheaper by this amount. So it's my own intrest not to work with such files.

 

i second this pov. it's a broader, general vision than a particular project case, serving somebody here and now.

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