Hi and thank you in advance for your support. . I´ve been contacted by Company that wants to include on their internal training a simulated explanation of concepts and operational risks (applied to Cranes, industrial equipment and field operations). The Companys idea is that their internal instructors run the simulation on their computers and share the virtual environment during online Courses (sharing screen on Teams, Zoom, Meet, etc). Besides, the audience for this training along with the instructors are Companys employees and there is no intention of sharing this content with people outside the Organization.
This Company wants me to develop the simulation environment and deliver an executable file to run on their Computers. I´m currently an independent Consultant and want to develop the simulation using UE.
As a Consultant, do I need to consider Royalty fees or any licensing in this case?
Does the Company need to consider any licensing or Royalty fees for using the executable file as part of their Courses?
Thank you again
You will not owe any royalties for Epic under either the Publishing EULA or the Creator EULA, as this is a custom work-for-hire product.
The Company will not owe any fees to Epic if it is simply using the executable internally for training purposes. If the Company monetizes the executable, or distributes it outside of the organization, the Company will need a separate license with Epic.
Hi again and thank you for your previous response
I`ve spoken with Company but they are concerned about the licence terms due to I use a free licence and not a corporate one,.They believe the latter is required for them though I´ve also explained that as long as they use the executable file as an internal education tool and not as a profitable product for their customers the 5% royalties don’t apply, It seems they want more clarification about this.
Honestly, I’m a bit confused and not sure if I need to buy either a special licence that is transferable to the Company or if the Company needs to buy a corporate licence in order to use the executable.
I´ve sent this case to the custom license link (Other licensing options - Unreal Engine) but haven´t received response so far.
Really appreciate your support or guidance in this case and please let me know if this is the proper channel to raise these questions. Perhaps calling a sales agent could help…
Thanks
If it helps, I think a way to explain this to the company would be to use a game development model as an example. Unreal Engine originated as a video game development tool, and we license it to game developers to sell their video games to end users.
You are like the game developer - you are using the engine to build a product to sell to your users (the Company). Unlike game developers, however, you are building a custom work-for-hire product, a category of products which is specifically exempted from royalty obligations under Section 5 of the EULA.
The Company is like the end user. To simply use and enjoy the application, the end user owes no fees to Epic, and is not required to be separately licensed with Epic. However, the end user (or Company) is not permitted to externally distribute or monetize the product without a separate license from Epic.
Hope that makes sense!