As long as you're not paying the party producing $software, I don't think it should matter whether they're doing it in their spare time, or during job hours, or

As long as you're not paying the party producing $software, I don't think it should matter whether they're doing it in their spare time, or during job hours, or as their primary task. You're benefiting from their work. For free. Behave. Not that you shouldn't behave if you're paying for the work, but in that case you can expect more investigatory work from the providing party.