Final Draft software activation

Final Draft, an industry-standard screenwriting software company, announced in January 2025 that they were discontinuing activation services for Final Draft 10.

Details of the Change

Final Draft announced they would discontinue activation and deactivation capabilities for Version 10 on June 30, 2025. This change means:

• Users can't reinstall the software on new computers;
• Software can't be reactivated after operating system updates;
• Technical support ends February 1, 2025;
• Existing installs will continue working until the computer or operating system is updated.

The company offered users an upgrade path to Version 13 at a reduced price of $59.99 (from $99.99) as a solution for affected users.

Meaning for Consumer Rights

This case shows key issues with modern consumer rights:

Loss of Perpetual License Rights

While users bought perpetual licenses for Version 10, the deactivation of authentication servers effectively removes their ability to use the software on new systems or after updates. This changes what was sold as a permanent purchase into a time-limited license, without explicit user agreement.

Forced Obsolescence

The company's decision to disable Version 10's activation creates an artificial barrier to its continued use. The software remains functional on existing systems, and could theoretically continue running indefinitely. However, the authentication requirement forces users toward paid upgrades, regardless of their needs or the software's actual functionality. Users who paid for a perpetual license may not be able to update their systems if they wish to continue using it.

Industry Standard Lock-in

Final Draft's position as the industry standard for screenwriting software means users face limited alternatives if they want to maintain compatibility with others in the industry. This market position worsens the impact of their licensing decisions on consumers.

Broader Implications

This represents a growing trend in software licensing where companies can unilaterally alter the terms of the sale, taking away perpetual licenses through technical mechanisms rather than legal means. While the company cites security concerns and operating system compatibility, the core word-processing functions of the software still work, raising questions about the necessity of disabling activation.

Alternatives

A recent alternative for screenplays is the Markdown-like Fountain, an open standard supported by most screenwriting and production tools. However, Fountain cannot yet fully replace Final Draft files for production software, because text wrapping in Fountain is app-dependent, and page breaks are therefore not guaranteed to be consistent.

Some Free/Libre and Open-Source multi-platform alternatives that one can use are Story Architect, or Trelby, as they both allow those not wanting to use proprietary screenwriting software, even though they may not fully replace Final Draft. Trelby is supported by Fountain per the Apps section as one of the many screenplay formats supporting Fountain as of Trelby version 2.4, the latest version at the time of writing.