The Licensing Journal, August 2016 A warranty is one of the most important contract provisions in a software contract. The warranty section deals with the performance of the software and what the licensor promises the software will or will not do. In a software contract, these performance warranties should be heavily negotiated, but usually they…
Microsoft, like other software publishers, routinely audits customers to help ensure that it is protecting the value of its intellectual property. Microsoft verifies its customers’ compliance using several methods. 1. Microsoft License Verification (also, Software Asset Management “SAM” request) In a SAM request, Microsoft assigns a third party to reach out to a customer to…
Autodesk, like many other software publishers, are now offering subscription based licenses instead of perpetual licenses. Customers tend to find the flexibility of subscription-based licensing appealing because those licenses allow for growth and changing work environments. However, the license terms have specific conditions and requirements for installation and use of the software, specifically related to…
Microsoft offers its employees an opportunity to buy discounted software if they agree to restrictive usage terms when purchasing from the Microsoft Company Store. In addition to the online Microsoft Company Store, employees may go to one of a few different physical locations, including one near the Microsoft campus visitor center. The Microsoft Company Store…
The Business Software Alliance (“BSA”) and Software Industry & Information Association (“SIIA”) work on behalf of their members (the lists of which include Microsoft (for the BSA), Adobe, and Autodesk, among others) to enforce copyrights and the terms of end user license agreements (“EULAs”) pertaining to those members’ software products. The BSA and SIIA typically…
Generally when purchasing new software online, or upgrading existing software, a box pops up on the computer that says “Agree to Terms”. Most people simply check the appropriate box and click next without reading the fine print. This can be troublesome when the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which represents major software companies such as Microsoft,…
Your business has just finished spending the last year of its corporate life responding to a software audit demanded by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) or the Software &Information Industry Association (SIIA). It has devoted substantial time and internal resources in an effort to gather an accurate inventory of software installations, together with all available…
In a previous post, I introduced the concept of post-settlement compliance following the settlement of audits initiated by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). As noted before, the first step to completing the compliance review process is setting a baseline to determine what software is installed compared to…
Software auditing entities, such as the Business Software Alliance (“BSA”) and Software & Information Industry Association (“SIIA”), initiate software audits of businesses that more often than not result in a settlement agreed to and negotiated by both parties. It is infrequent that a software publisher or auditor initiates against a company copyright infringement damages arising…
The majority of copyright infringement claims against consumers using copyrighted software are resolved by settlement rather than litigation, for a multitude of reasons. In some instances, the settlement agreements contain post-settlement obligations that can affect the release of liability for all copyright infringement claims. The following are the most common examples of the settlement obligations…
