It has done this again. This is from today March 16, 2025. I used this software all week. I didn’t have any updates on my computer since the last time I used it. I’m not sure how to stop this from happening. All the other Topaz apps are still functioning without needing to activate again. 
And then I login and it works. But having to activate it like this concerns me. Your company may not exist or may stop support, but my license dies. This is my biggest concern and the reason I’ve not upgraded anything past the versions I’ve purchased. The cost of doing what the same upscaling with online services in an on-demand environment is cheaper than a full upgrade, but I bought a permanent license so I didn’t have to be online all the time.
Something needs to loosen up.
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The authentication token will expire and need to be refreshed from time to time with the apps. They should expire about every 6 months but if you are running a registry cleaner the token might be getting cleared more frequently, some anti-virus apps can do this as well.
So, let’s be clear just so everyone is aware:
Even though some might think we have purchased a perpetual licence to use the (current version of the) software indefinitely - including all downloaded models, that is NOT the case. At any point in the future, Topaz might not exist and so the software in its current form will cease to function after the authentication token expires and cannot be re-authenticated.
So the EULA is incorrect or at least misleading when it refers to a perpetual licence. Perpetual - ONLY WHILE Topaz Labs or a new owner facilitates re-authentication periodically.
If Topaz disagrees with this assessment then I’m sure we would all like to hear about it.
Thanks.
Andy
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Hello Kyle,
I am not running a registry cleaner. I’m not running any extraneous software on this machine at all. I’m a software engineer with over 35 years in the industry and I keep this machine pristine because it has to be for the sake of my business.
I would never install any kind of program like that on my computer.
There is some kind of logic that fails at some point in trying to determine whether or not to require me to activate. It could be the token is not being updated appropriately. It could be that the program itself is somehow messed up the token and then it requires it to be reactivated. It could be a many different things. I just don’t like having to reactivate the dang thing about once a month. I don’t have another piece of software on my computer that has a perpetual license that requires this. In this day and age I think you’re fighting pirates and they’re winning no matter what you do anyways. I have no doubt they’ve cracked this software and you’re fighting a battle to make it inconvenient for them and at the same time you’re just making it inconvenient for your customer. At some point you have to look at whether or not it’s good for business.
It’s not good for me to have to do this and I really don’t want to deal with it too much longer. It is the primary reason I have not upgraded to the next version of the several different licenses for each product that I have of yours. The AI technology works pretty good barring a few glitches here and there. And that is the only reason that I’m continuing to use it at this point. But you know that you’re not the only game in town and the cost has diminished significantly in other ways for me to go another route to run my business.
So let’s just say you can have the best technology if you don’t have the best business practices, none of it matters.
The bottom line is that I should only have to reactivate this if I switch machines or I reinstall it. The token never needs to expire. It’s silly to put it at 6 months in the first place. Why 6 and not 3 or 5 or 9 or 1?
It’s arbitrary and just becomes an inconvenience. The token is no more secure or less secure or reliable after 6 months. So there’s no need to expire it.
And I sure hope that topaz sticks around long enough that the software I’m using is no longer useful and I can just dispose of it instead of relying on it and topaz being underwater or out of business. I watched a lot of software companies go out of business in my time, including some of my own businesses.
Hope you guys figure it out. I remain open to any possible fix you might have to help me out. It’s not an operator error and it’s not the user’s fault that it’s happening. It’s a bug on your part.
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