Lessons Learned in Over 500 Software License Disputes
Regardless of whether the publisher is Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, Oracle, IBM or any of their trade groups including the BSA | The Software Alliance, Robert Scott of Scott & Scott LLP sees common issues.
In a new online publication, he identifies some of those common issues, which include audit effective date, scope, discovering the installations, identifying proof of licenses, interim confidentiality / 408 agreements, calculating financial exposure, what constitutes a good settlement, and confidentiality.
On the issue of scope, Scott writes: “Narrowing the scope of a requested audit is one of my first priorities in a software audit case. I like to think of scope in a number of different ways all with an eye toward narrowing the number of devices to be investigated as much as possible at the outset of the case. Scope limitations could be to certain business units or affiliates, certain geographic locations, certain products, certain purchasing agreements. Winning the scope battle is an early success factor in an audit case.”
