Did you upgrade from this version?

Aje,

I can confirm what Kelly says as I did exactly that with my copy of Videofactory. All it took was a call to customer service and I had to give them the name, address, e-mail of my cousin. Works fine.

I still have my copy of Vegas 3 since I used it to upgrade to Vegas 4. As Jetdv eludes, I'm wondering if I need to keep this copy since I used it to upgrade with.

Randy

Randy, you don't need the old version for anything anymore. Once you've received the upgrade to the next version then you're done with it. Unlike some other software, there is no requirement to have the old version to install or use the new version. All the old version did was enable you to get the upgrade discount price. Once you've gotten the new version license, no matter whether it was a full purchase or an upgrade, it's still a full license for that version and will install even if the older version had never been on your computer.

On the other hand, technicalities aside, one could argue that when you do use your old version license to receive the upgrade discount, you no longer have a valid license for the old version. It could be construed that since the purchase price of the old version went towards the discount on the new version that you are effectively selling your old license back to the software publisher. If this is the case then you don't have an old license to sell or transfer to someone else.

Now, to the best of my knowledge, this has never been tested in court with "commodity" software. I'm not a lawyer and i certainly am the last person to come to for legal advice. However, i've read arguments on both sides of this issue and compelling cases have been made in both directions (that your license is invalidated when you upgrade and that your license is still yours to do with as you wish). Since the license is still really owned by the publisher and you have agreed to their terms when you buy use of it, it is probably best to contact them and explain your specific case and see what they say. Again to the best of my knowlege, SONY/SonicFoundry has not denied the transfer of an old license when upgrading. On the other hand, when i've recommended people contacting customer service in the past, they've never reported back here in this forum what the outcome was.

OK, all that aside, call customer support and they'll tell you what you can and can't do. It's the right thing to do.

Thanks Kelly. As always, sound advice. Would be cool if I could sell my copy of Vegas 3 to help finance an upgrade to Vegas 5.
Thanks,
Randy

"Would be cool if I could sell my copy of Vegas 3 to help finance an upgrade to Vegas 5"

That's why I don't think you could do that.

MS installs insist on reading the CD you're upgrading from prior to a scratch install of a new OS. I think when you upgrade software like this, you have an original and an upgrade, not a new version (even though all the code's the same). Software companies are trying to say "Thanks" by cutting us a break - if they wanted to give us free upgrades, they would.

On the other hand, technicalities aside, one could argue that when you do use your old version license to receive the upgrade discount, you no longer have a valid license for the old version. It could be construed that since the purchase price of the old version went towards the discount on the new version that you are effectively selling your old license back to the software publisher. If this is the case then you don't have an old license to sell or transfer to someone else.

No you don't need the old version once you receive the new version and new serial number. The NEW version doesn't "look for" the OLD version. The "technicalities" above is what I was alluding to. As Kelly said, best to call Customer Support and find out the correct answer.