Illegal or not?

[Alonzo1]

Hypothetical situation:

If I know someone who has the instalation discs to a program like Final Cut Pro, is it illegal if I borrow them and put Final Cut Pro on my Mac?

If not, is it illegal if I make money with the videos I create?

 

[PlaceofDis]

illegal. software licenses belong to those who own the discs and have them in their possession.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

It certainly is illegal to go using those disks to put the software on your Mac. You've not paid for a licence for the software, after all.

 

[thedude110]

Agreed. Lest you acquire them in trade or barter.

In which case I assume your friend would have to uninstall the software?

 

[mduser63]

It's illegal. However, your friend could even give it to you free as long as he/she uninstalled the software from their machine(s) and didn't keep a copy for themselves.

 

[elisha cuthbert]

well technically not unless you type in your friends license key other wise i dont think it is

 

[RacerX]

If I know someone who has the instalation discs to a program like Final Cut Pro, is it illegal if I borrow them and put Final Cut Pro on my Mac?

Yes, it is illegal.

...is it illegal if I make money with the videos I create?

The only thing worse than using illegal software is using illegal software to make money.

I know people who used software they didn't own to learn an application, but if you are making money using an application that you don't own then you've stepped out of the gray area and into completely unethical behavior.

Every application I own has paid for itself. When I wanted/needed Adobe LiveMotion I downloaded the demo from Adobe (30 days) and did a job using that demo which paid for the full version.

If you are making money then you are no longer a tinkerer or hobbyist, you are now a professional and should act like a professional.