Commercial and academic distribution of LabVIEW software

[pasthy.laszlo@edu.bme.hu]

Hi,

I have currently the academic version of LabVIEW, and I'm developing a graphical user interface of a software with it. I am planning to release a beta version which I would distribute for free (as a built exe application) for academic and educational purposes.

Then if the beta version is successful, I would buy the commercial version of LabVIEW, and release a paid version of my GUI software which I would distribute for industrial purposes.

Would this be legal?

Thank You in advance for the answer.

László Pásthy

[rolfk · Accepted solution]

From the point of NI probably yes. There are some limitations what you can do with an academic version even if you give away your program for free. If the resulting executable is used for commercial purposes, meaning it earns that other person money in some way, the fact that you do not charge for the software itself is not enough. But otherwise NI is not going to give you problems.

But who owns the academic license you currently use? They may not agree to let you use any result that was created with it for your own financial benefit. But that is between you and the entity who gave you access to their academic license.