A few weeks ago, I asked the question:
Combing through Apple’s website and reading their license agreements, the answer seemed straight forward and to the point:
No.
Interestingly enough, one of our fully awesome ChurchMag readers dug a little deeper and contacted Apple over the phone. This is what she found out from an Apple Rep:
I looked into this for you and I can clarify that you can use the 1 copy on your 10 machines.
Interesting.
Why doesn’t Apple address this on their website?
Non-profits are never mentioned.
So, I called them.
This is what they told me:
You can use it on 25 machines.
So, I asked then, if I had 50 machines, would I need two licenses?
This is when things got a little shaky.
His reply:
Uhhhh. Well, I’m not sure if it’s 25. If you have them all setup under the same account, you can keep adding machines until it flags you.
So, I asked about 100 machines. I’m really just looking for a solid answer, and I find that when you start throwing around larger numbers, people tend to take their answers more seriously.
He then says:
Well, if you have very many machines, you would want to talk with a rep from the Apple Store for Business.
Huh? So, the rules change depending on the size of the non-profit?
So, this is my recommendation; my final word on the matter of licensing your Church OS X:
Call Apple.
I don’t know why the haven’t addressed this in a straight forward manner. Defined the terms, roll-out a set pricing. Certainly Churches aren’t the only ones scratching their heads on this one.
Get your Apple ID info together and call Apple. I would also advise you to get them to back it up in writing. Perhaps emailing them would be better? Just be careful and cover your bases.
I wish Apple would address the non-profit licensing directly.
Has anyone else had experience with this?
Adam Shields says
My guess is that it is about the reps not knowing policy more than the policy being undefined. I can’t really imagine that Apple doesn’t have a policy.
But I have found the similar things when I did buying for a church based organization.
Eric Dye says
They need a non profit script to read!
Reba says
This would be something Apple needs to address. Our church is running roughly 20 macs. We have not upgraded any to Lion but we are going to have to buy some new computers soon and they will come with lion. It would be nice to upgrade all of them at once and know we are doing it properly.
Eric Dye says
Exactly.
Rich says
Our Apple Business rep told us that they were working on it and to “sit tight”. This is the same for the Apple Business Volume Licensing for App store purchases (for your ministries’ Macs, iPads, iPhones, etc). A very cool concept (http://www.apple.com/mac/volume-licensing/), but as of yet, the registration goes off of a DUNS credit rating, so no non-profit implementation.
Eric Dye says
“Sit tight”? #LAME
Mason says
I got the same response after Lion dropped. They have volume licensing for 25 seats or more but nothing between 5 and 20. It’s just, “keep installing and they might or might not flag you.”
Eric Dye says
That’s hardly a “policy”, right?
Tony says
For volume licensing you have to purchase the minimum amount to use them, if you buy groom the app store you legally should only install on one machin since it’s not a household
Eric Dye says
This is what we originally post, but then we decided to give them a call. If this really was there policy, then their phone reps are completely clueless, since they are feeding are readers different stories.
Aaron says
Our Apple Business Rep said “technically you should buy a copy for each machine.” Nothing is clear so far!
Eric Dye says
LOL! – What are we going to do with these guys!
Gus says
I too talked with the business rep at my local Apple store and he said technically we would need to purchase one license for each computer. The thing is if you talk to a normal non business guy you are going to get a variety of answers because they just don’t know, or they will say what you can do in a home of 1 for 10 computers. Even though you can do this technically, meaning buy it under an account and install it on 10 computers, legally you are in grey area. Hopefully we will specific documentation, but right now most churches to Apple are just businesses. One good thing to do for sure if you buy computers for your church is to purchase from their business unit because you get discounts of 5 to 10 percent. You can also buy refurbs through the department and that counts against your annual total. The more you spend the bigger the discount in a given year. One last thing that is good about knowing your local business managers is they can help you get those harder to get newly released items.
Eric Dye says
Apple still needs to pull a policy. Most major software companies and even Google, have defined nonprofit terms. If nonprofits fall under business, they need to state it.
Josh Gussler says
I called Apple the day Lion came out and asked about putting on the 5 mac that we have on our church campus. I told them the situation and he told me that I would be able to install it on 20 machines. I have installed it without problems. I did go and read the entire user agreement and it states that it is for consumer use and not for business use. I asked them about this and did not have a definite answer. I was shocked that Apple released a product and had not thought everything through.
Eric Dye says
*sigh*
Ben Terry says
I talked with a rep from the Apple Store for Business from AppleCare and he sent me this info:
“Hey Ben,
Sorry about the confusion you have gone through. If you are a Business/education/non-profit the you would need a Volume License (http://www.apple.com/mac/volume-licensing/) . I have attached the quote and a link that explains it.
NB: A home user looking to use lion for PERSONAL use only can install it on all their Macs (Number is not specified). But this option is not extended to institutions i.e Business, Education or non-profits.
Hope this clarifies the confusion.
Thanks”
This mainly confuses us more on the situation.
Eric Dye says
I rest my case.
BenJPickett says
These comments make MS volume licensing look like a good dream.
Eric Dye says
HA!
Jon says
More than a year later and still no consistent answers. I guess it doesn’t matter what the licensing states… if the business reps CLEARLY don’t know what to sell you, all we can really do is go forward as they prescribe (through the app store).
I just called a business rep today with this issue, asking specifically for the process to buy a license for FCP for a non-profit and he told me I had to go through the App Store. I asked him if I could then install FCP on 5 machines and he said, “yes”. I then asked, “what if I needed it for 10 machines?” He said, there’s really no controls on how many times you can install it…. Great.
So JUST FOR THE RECORD… WE ARE TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING, APPLE! But you don’t even leave us an option to comply with your own licensing policies.
How is that a company with $100 billion doesn’t have the resources to address things like this?!?
Eric Dye says
Good question. We may need to cover this issue again, thanks for commenting!