Filmora lifetime licenses terminated

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Wondershare, the company behind Filmora, changed its licensing policy, causing controversy among users. Originally, lifetime licenses promised unlimited access to future updates. However, Wondershare later restricted these licenses, requiring users to pay for major updates instead.

Background

Filmora is a video editing software designed for content creators and videographers. The software initially offered lifetime licenses, which were priced at $59.99, $20 more than the $39.99/year subscription. That meant that the lifetime license was cheaper than going for the yearly subscription twice.

Terminating lifetime licenses

In 2022, Wondershare altered its licensing terms, effectively invalidating the lifetime nature of these licenses. Instead of providing continuous updates, Wondershare restricted major upgrades (e.g., from Filmora 9 to Filmora 10) to users with subscription-based plans or those willing to pay an additional upgrade fee. This decision led to a significant backlash from customers who had purchased a lifetime license, believing they were entitled to all future versions at no extra cost.

Wondershare initially justified the change by claiming that the lifetime license only covered updates within the same major version (e.g., all updates within Filmora 9.x but not Filmora 10). However, this contradicted the original understanding many users had when purchasing the product.

Wondershare's response

The company directly addressed the users of the lifetime license users, putting out a statement with a public apology for the caused confusion. In that same statement, two compensation options are offered. Customers get a free upgrade to the latest version, but it does not state about future updates. By the specific language used, in this case "upgrade", the earlier lifetime updating does not seem applicable anymore after this. In the case that customers had already payed, they could get a full refund if they responded within a month, otherwise the company assumes they opt for getting additional software (priced at $99) as a way of compensation.

Lawsuit

In February 2024, there was a related class action lawsuit filed, alleging that Wondershare lures consumers into automatically renewing subscriptions without making proper disclosures or obtaining customer consent. The court order established a 90-day window for settlement negotiations, and the case was dismissed subject to settlement consummation.

Consumer response

• Deceptive Advertising: Numerous users accused Wondershare of false advertising regarding the lifetime licenses.
• Erosion of Trust: Previous trust in Wondershare's products evaporated, leaving customers wary of future purchases from the company.
• Refund Requests: There was a significant demand for refunds from those who held "lifetime" licenses, claiming the product did not meet the expectations set by its marketing.

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