Software auditors almost always try to find ways to maximize the number of allegedly infringing software "copies" at issue in an audit engagement. It is typical for the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), and...
Negotiating a settlement with the Business Software Alliance ("BSA") to resolve a copyright infringement dispute over allegedly unlicensed software can be arduous and costly. The BSA typically demands a penalty based on some multiple of the MSRP of each product...
One of the most common mistakes I encounter in software audits is what I call the post-effective date software buying spree. The buying spree occurs in response to a letter from a publisher or publisher's attorneys requesting a self audit....
Without a contractual provision to the contrary, ambiguous terms in a software license will be construed against the software publisher. Provided that there are no other business factors that would make litigation unwise, an ambiguous license agreement is the situation...
Software copyright infringement litigation (sometimes called software anti-piracy claims) comes in an array of varieties. Frequently, it is functionally indistinguishable from disputes involving literary or audio-visual works and centers on claims that an infringer copied a copyright owner's work and...
The Business Software Alliance ("BSA"), and the Software & Information Industry Association ("SIIA") pursue copyright infringement claims on behalf of software publishers, such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Autodesk, among many others. Typically the BSA and SIIA send audit letters to...
In Nature's Enterprises, Inc. v. Pearson (2010), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected Nature's Enterprises ("NEI's") request for damages for each component part of a compilation. NEI had alleged that Pearson infringed ten of...
"Software piracy" is a favorite catch-phrase used by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the software companies it represents. Most people understand software piracy to involve the intentional copying and, in many cases, distribution of copyrighted software to third parties...
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) regularly targets small-to-medium sized businesses for expensive software audits to determine whether those businesses are in compliance with their BSA-member software licenses. In furtherance of that effort, the BSA offers cash rewards to disgruntled current...
The targets of BSA audits frequently believe that they know who reported them to the Business Software Alliance. Justifiably angry, they want to know what legal recourse they have against the informant. Because the informants are frequently out of work,...
One of the most controversial tactics the BSA uses when calculating its settlement demands is its practice of unbundling software suites such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite. Unbundling occurs when the target of a BSA audit is unable...
Last week, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) announced that it will temporarily increase its rewards incentive from $200,000 to $1 million from July to October 2007. This is the second dramatic increase in the organization's rewards program which offers financial...
A New Definition of Software Piracy What is software piracy? Like many politically charged phrases, the definition of software piracy is influenced by your financial interests and your viewpoint. The Business Software Alliance defines software piracy as: "The illegal use...