I just realized that Topaz is now isolating (non-limited) commercial uses of the software to the more expensive license. This is not good. Not even terrible Adobe does shenanigans like that–of course you can use Photoshop, Premiere Pro, etc commercially with a standard license. So now I’m supposed to be paying $1099/yr (50% more expensive than Adobe’s entire creative suite) so I can use this software as a freelancer (the end user agreement mentions “businesses with annual revenue exceeding $1 million” which doesn’t apply to me personally but could easily apply to someone I’m working for, and nobody comps a freelancer for the software they use; that’s absurd)?
As recent as November 2023, it seems like Topaz’s policies were the exact opposite. In this thread, someone asked Topaz about their policy regarding commercial use of their software: Topaz photo commercial usage - #4 by ricky.gai . They said, “You as a user have full license to sell or copyright your images and videos just as you would normally. Our AI software does not generate new works or content from scratch it only enhances what is already there in the image or video file that you put into the app.” I read that thread a couple months ago when I heard they were adding a “pro” license and got reassured that they wouldn’t be doing anything foolish like stripping us of our commercial rights over our footage.
Their policy now states, “The Software when directly purchased from the website under a personal license is solely intended for personal or limited commercial use.” I’ve had Topaz Video AI since way before November 2023, so they changed the policy regarding commercial use while I’ve had the license.
Please correct me if I’m wrong in any way.
