Google SU 8 Free for commercial use - some vendors are denying it

Hello all

It is a known fact that Google SketchUP 8 Free is allowed for commercial use - so are Free version 7 & 6 - if your OS supported the old versions.

But some vendors are hiding this fact and denying that this is not true and say that we have to buy pro version. “personal use” came only after SketchUP Make was introduced after Trimble taking over.

The vendors - in their eagerness to sell (naturally) deliberately say that only Pro version shall be used commercially and are trying to sell the latest pro version to those who are still using the old Google SketchUP 8 Free version which onecan use commercially today also.

Please, please someone from the SketchUP team confirm this. I want the reply only from a team member of SketchUP.

Or if others could give links to SketchUP saying so please give me the links which would give solid proof that SU 8 Free can be used under commercial environment.

Thanks in advance
PRSS

It is known as (and was re-branded) as Trimble SketchUp 8, from 28 AUG 2012 when Maintenance Release 4 (for v8) was released.
See SketchUp Release Notes:
http://help.sketchup.com/en/article/141303
So you should be using the latest Trimble version of SketchUp 8,
which is 8.0M5 ie:
Win 8.0.16846 Mac 8.0.16845

The actual sale was announced on 26 APR 2012.
See Trimble News Release:
http://www.trimble.com/news/release.aspx?id=042612a


Trimble provides support services for the Software as described at http://www.sketchup.com/support/policy.html.
(See section 17, http://www.sketchup.com/license/a/sketchup-pro)

Users of free editions that are no longer supported, can ask, but should not demand support of any kind.


Other topic threads on this subject:

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Thank you DanRathbun. I would still like a SU team member to clarify on this.

Best regards
PRSS

There are SEVERAL links to anwers and statements from SU team members in @DanRathbun detailed post, why do you need another clarification in this topic?

@PRSS

Trimble employees are not allowed to interpret the “Terms of Use” or any of the legal agreements, for you.

But the problem is getting ahold of a copy of the SketchUp v8 Terms of Use. The old Google URL is now redirecting to the latest Trimble terms document.


If you think you need to file a complaint regarding an official SketchUp distributor, then likely send it to the sales department:

Thank you Cotty & DanRathbun. That resolves my issue. Thank you very much for giving me the link to the SketchUP sales. I shall write to them.

With best regards
PRSS

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The only solution for you is to take the EULA text from the package that you have installed or are planning to install. It may vary even between maintenance releases. Then take it to your lawyer to interpret.

I have a vague recollection that the provision for commercial use was removed not in release 2013 but already in a maintenance release to version 8 so that some versions of 8 can be used but some others not. I might be wrong, and remembering another version of this discussion that has been repeated for as long as the free version of SU has existed.

Anssi

Thank you Anssi. The best solution would be to take it to the lawyer.

The version I am talking about is SketchUP 8 (M3) when it was still Google - not after Trimble took over (SU 8 -M5 is Trimble - but still not SU Make - where SU Make free is prohibited for commercial use… Google never denied commercial use for their free version of SU8.

Best regards
PRSS

I do not have that recollection. My recollection is that John Bacus said that the agreement between Google and Trimble was that the terms would not change much for version 8. His comments are out there on the web for interviews he did at the time. But his comments are not the part of the terms.

I also looked into the msi package and the installed v8 files, but the terms are not there. They were posted on a Google website. So perhaps the “way back machine” might have archived them ?

A few articles on the web at the time:


* These web articles linked to above are personnel opinions.

Why not have a look at this pdf file - I just remembered that I had printed a pdf from the “Knowledge Centre” of SketchUP when there was SketchUP 2013. Please see the highlighted part of the text in the attached pdf file.

Best regards
PRSS

SU 8 is still free highlighted.pdf (122.6 KB)

Okay, read that. In my personal opinion, a “FAQ” is not a legal document.

Also that statement is more about the perpetuity of a specific version license, but stressing the caveat that maintenance support lasts only so long. With the release of SketchUp 2013, Trimble moved to a yearly subscription cycle, and previous versions are not usually updated. (Very seldom there have been a critical security patch issued for obsolete versions.)

We see this happened when the term that Google supported URL redirects for 3D Warehouse ran out. Going forward, do not expect old versions that have MS Internet Explorer v8 limitations (like running under Windows XP,) to always be supported on the 3D Warehouse and Extension Warehouse websites.

Now, of course since we are talking about the old free edition of SketchUp, it’s users are not entitled to formal support anyway. They should not expect free updates. They should also not be surprised if online functions cease to be supported, for their obsolete version, sometime in the future.

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Thank you DanRathbun. May be what you say is right. Thank you for reading it & giving feed back.

Best regards
PRSS

After Make 2013, all subsequent free releases had the majority of export features removed. This rendered “Commercial” usage, limited. There is very little difference between Make and Pro, other than these now missing features. SUMake is free and great for learning. Now, Pro is the only way to have full usage, of SketchUp. Currently, you can download a free 30 day Pro version, and it will automatically convert to Make, less these Import/Export features. Searching for plugins to change this, will not help.

For Commercial users, Pro is what you need.

That’s not true, only the MAKE version will change to the MAKE version after the PRO trial, the PRO with the PRO trial will stop without a valid license after 30 days.

Why not?

Well then, maybe that has also changed. A little over a year ago, it would make all kinds of comments why you needed to purchase the Pro version. though as a last resort, it converted into Make.

That’s how I remembered it, as I downloaded it on 4 to 6 computers at work and at home. PCs and Macs. Maybe a better question to understand is, was there ever a DXF export feature in a free version of SU?

In the very first free version (6, if I remember right) there was, and for the next one (7) it was available as a Google-created plugin. Version 8 removed all vector export except Collada.

Anssi

OK, then those export features were removed to increase their profits. The
way in which you loaded plugins, were also changed, and rendered all
exporting plugins useless.

If someone can show me different, then do so. You cannot export, any
longer, using a DXF format, with or without a third party plugin. You must
have Pro for that ability.

To recommend SU Make for a Commercial use, would be ill advised.

Best Regards,

Steve Clayton

Steve Clayton, Inc.
201 Rogue River Pky.
Talent, OR. 97540
541 535-4440 Ext. 707

see: Page Not Found | SketchUp Extension Warehouse

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Well, thanks for all the response. Why I created this thread was that I heard that some vendor is bullying people who were using even the Free Version of Google SU 7 (many are still running Free version 7 here with the import dwg plugin offered by Google - even though they are no more there for download people who use it here (affordability is very, very low here) have the installations files on their hard disks.

I thought I might get an answer to stop someone bullying that SU7 Free also cannot be used in an office. Well, a PRO is certainly expected to use the PRO version - no denying it. Through SketchUcation forum, I got a couple of links OR conversations saying the Free versions 8 & older are free for office use also. But that too I cannot take it for granted - because it was someone’s own interpretation.

Let me see what those people - a few who are being bothered - do on this. Shall give feed back here after actually seeing what happens !

Best regards
PRSS