I searched the forum and didn’t find a definitive answer. Is Shop OK for commercial use or not? While I appreciate informed opinions, I’d really like Trimble/SketchUp to answer this question once and for all.
Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer. Do not use my statements as legal advice. If the reference(s) I link to aren’t clear, then consult a lawyer or contact Trimble directly.
And yes. I’m not a Trimble representative, just a user of the user forum. SketchUp/Trimble representatives do monitor things here, but a response from them isn’t guaranteed and, for some topics, company policy prohibits comment.
SketchUp Shop seems to be licensed for commercial use. The Web Terms of Service covers both SketchUp Free and SketchUp Shop.
The “Free Offerings” section (1.5) makes only one distinction between Free and Shop: Free is only for non-commercial use. No other distinction is made. Based on this, Shop is logically OK to use for commercial purposes.
@sjdorst has been following this discussion closely, it could be a worth reading for yourself, to see that you come to the same conclusion:
https://forums.sketchup.com/t/announcing-sketchup-shop/66185/32
Trimble has done so, and that answer is found in the “Trimble SketchUp Web Terms of Service.”
2 Likes
Staring at the SU home page and ending at the point of purchase, this is the only clue I find regarding personal or professional use of SU Shop.
1 Like
I tried your link in both Google and Bing translators, and neither could convert it to English.
Note that the article doesn’t mention Shop (or Pro, or Make, or Free), and the sales pages don’t mention that Shop uses Pro licensing.
2 Likes
How does one consider the question to be answered with reasonable clarity, when the referenced 6-page TOS is devoid of the word ‘shop’?
I understand the frustration, guys- but the efficacy of legal terms are undermined when I restate them to be more understandable.
We’re working on the marketing pages for SketchUp Shop and I hope in doing so we’ll remove any ambiguity further on the question of commercial vs. non-commercial use allowance. For now, the referenced Terms of Use are our best answer to the question.
1.5 is the most relevant section of the terms, wherein we state:
--
1.5 Free Offerings . Where indicated in the applicable Order Form, Customer may receive access to a free version of the Service (a Free Offering ) under a Free Subscription . There is no fee for use of Free Offerings in accordance with this Agreement. Without limiting any other restrictions in this Agreement, Customer may only use a Free Offering in a non-production environment for non-commercial purposes. Either party may terminate a Free Subscription, for any reason or no reason, immediately upon written notice to the other party.
--
SketchUp Shop is not a free offering, so this section would not apply.
john
.
3 Likes
There’s no good reason for a TOS to be so vague.
This particular brand of ‘clarity’ generally leaves me looking for the nearest emergency shower.
6 Likes
It isn’t vague, George, it is just that the logic is reversed from the way you’re thinking about the question. Rather than explicitly allowing uses in Shop, we are explicitly dis-allowing them in Free. I am not a lawyer, of course, but it seems to me this answers the question pretty well.
2 Likes
What ever happened to PLAIN English? The lawyers?
4 Likes
Neither am I a lawyer, but I understand the logic in the part of the TOS John is referencing. The lawyers have understandably added some future proofing into the text, ie, whatever the services on offer are called, if they are free, they are for personal use only.
All legal documents should come with a explanatory text in normal English that describes what it says. That or a programmer should define a legal language that is actually 100% defined and not built upon arbitrary knowledge only lawyers have. Edit: Oh, and it should have syntax highlighting!