Cubase 12 - updated licensing info

[noiseboyuk]

Looks pretty damn perfect to me...

In November 2021, we announced the details of the new Steinberg Licensing system that will be introduced in early 2022 with the release of Dorico 4, to be followed by Cubase 12 and then other Steinberg software products.

We received a great deal of feedback from our users around the world, and we would like to thank everybody for engaging in thoughtful and passionate discussion with us. We know that the way our software is licensed has a big impact on the experience of using our software, and we want Steinberg Licensing to provide the best possible user experience, while providing protection to both your and our investment in our software.

Although there were many themes among the feedback we received, two concerns emerged as being of particular importance, and it’s around those two issues that we would like to provide an update today.

Renewing activation every 30 days
In our original announcement, we described the process of activating your software online, which would provide you with a 30-day offline allowance period, so that you could disconnect your computer from the internet and use your Steinberg software for 30 days, with the requirement that you should allow the software to renew its activation once every 30 days.

Many users expressed concern about this approach, particularly on the grounds that software sold under a perpetual license should not have any kind of time limitation in its use.

We have decided to make significant changes in this area: for software purchased under a perpetual license, there will be no requirement for your computer to connect to our activation servers after initial activation. There will be no offline allowance period: instead, once your software has been activated on your computer, it never needs to contact our activation servers again for you to be able to keep using it.

If you eventually want to stop using the software on that computer and move it to another computer, you can run Steinberg Activation Manager to deactivate it, freeing up that activation for another computer.

As before, your perpetual license applies only to the current major version of the product: e.g., if you purchase a license for Dorico 4, your license will not apply to Dorico 5 or any later version.

Maximum number of activations
In our original announcement, we specified that it would be possible to activate a single-user license on up to two computers, for your own personal use.

We heard from some customers that increasing the maximum number of activations would be more convenient. To address this, we have decided to increase the maximum number of activations from two to three computers. Your single-user license for your Steinberg software may be activated on a maximum of three computers simultaneously.

Please note that a single-user license is still licensed to an individual person, so it is not permitted for multiple different people to use the software, either at the same or at different times. Each activated machine is for your own personal use.

If you are a business owner or are employed by an enterprise or educational institution that requires multi-user licensing, please stay tuned for further information about the new multi-user licensing options that will be coming in 2022. The above applies only to single-user perpetual licenses for Steinberg software using Steinberg Licensing.

More information
If you missed the original announcement about the introduction of Steinberg Licensing, read it here 2. We have collected answers to many of the questions we have received from our customers about the new licensing system, which you can find here 1. Both of these resources have been updated to take into account the changes announced here.

We are looking forward to the release of Dorico 4 early in 2022, which will provide your first opportunity to experience Steinberg Licensing for yourself. We hope that the changes we have announced today will help to make the transition to the new system as easy and as smooth as possible.

If you have any further queries or concerns about Steinberg Licensing, please let us know. The easiest way is to post on our user forums.

Thank you for your continued support of Steinberg products, and we wish you a very happy Christmas and a productive and prosperous start to 2022.

https://forums.steinberg.net/t/update-o ... I4Tw5lVcRY

[chk071]

Nice. So, basically, a C/R now.

[zvenx]

Nice..
Thanks..

I do note though:

We have decided to make significant changes in this area: for software purchased under a perpetual license, there will be no requirement for your computer to connect to our activation servers after initial activation.

Aren't all their current software perpetually licensed?
Maybe they do plan to offer another kind of option.... on some newer stuff?

rsp

[pixel85]

Oh, look, being a hater, troll and whatever is 'the worst kind of an internet user' actually paid off
Congrats to complainers and Steinberg for listening to their customers

[rageix]

I didn't think what they were doing at first was bad or anything, but this is great! Kind of surprised to be honest.

[chk071]

Oh, look, being a hater, troll and whatever is 'the worst kind of an internet user' actually paid off

Yes, for the people who can't live with the thought that you have to connect your PC to the internet once a month.

Always remember that it's not the general interest, but single person's interests that we talk about here. They're not "fighters for the cause" or something, but very vocal about their own specific needs.

Anyway, it's a nice solution, and, I only can approve it. I like Studio One's authorization a lot, and, thise seems to be just like it.

[v1o]

Will this make it easier for pirates to defeat?

[chk071]

Surely.

[fese]

Not a fan of C/R personally, but I can live with that. I had no beef with the online solution, nor do I have a problem with the dongle.
Did they say what happens if for whatever reason the licensed computer fails or you forget to deactivate before migrating to a new one? Is that activation lost for you?

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Looks pretty damn perfect to me...

https://forums.steinberg.net/t/update-o ... I4Tw5lVcRY

Good move Steinberg! I don't really use Cubase these days but I do like to keep a few DAWs fairly up to date for beta testing and just because every now and then, one DAW just really does a particular task better than another. I wasn't going to update to the latest Cubase if there was going to be a check-in, and now I will if only to support their decision to drop that approach.

[rasmusklump]

Oh, look, being a hater, troll and whatever is 'the worst kind of an internet user' actually paid off

Yes, for the people who can't live with the thought that you have to connect your PC to the internet once a month.

Always remember that it's not the general interest, but single person's interests that we talk about here. They're not "fighters for the cause" or something, but very vocal about their own specific needs.

Anyway, it's a nice solution, and, I only can approve it. I like Studio One's authorization a lot, and, thise seems to be just like it.

You can't stop bickering and stirring the pot, can't you?

[chk071]

You can't stop bickering and stirring the pot, can't you?

Although you never answer me anyway: Who's bickering and stirring the pot here. Obviously, you're such a big fan of mine that you can't stop it.

[Scotty]

I'm surprised by the "generosity" of this licensing system. I hope it is a good move for Steinberg. I would have been happy if they kept the dongle system but allowed it to be authenticated on two dongles registered to one user at the same time. A nice surprise. Let's see what the rest of version 12 has in store.

[BBFG#]

Great! Fits well with my personal desires expressed from the first announcement. It would still be nice to be able to use our eLicense dongle as one of those activations for when we travel without a computer though. I've been doing that for awhile now and travel just having a USB/SSD and the dongle that I can plugin and run from any computer.

[VitaminD]

I'm willing to give up my eLicenser for this new amended licensing. One and done for the life of the PC is fine by me. Bring on C12!