Attorney Steve® Software Audit Essentials - Post-letter purchase
Introduction
One of the most common mistakes I see my clients make is scrambling to purchase software after they receive a demand letter from a software company (or their agent - for example, the Business Software Alliance) notifying the business owner of their belief that your company is using unlicensed software or engaged in credential sharing over-installation of software. In these cases, the first and most important thing to do is to DISCUSS YOUR CASE WITH COPYRIGHT SOFTWARE COUNSEL. The next, is to NOT RUSH TO BUY NEW SOFTWARE. Many companies believe this will solve their matter. In most cases, it will not. Many times, software publishers will deem these "post-letter purchases" and will not count them toward satisfying or remediation your non-compliance situation. So, before you race to your reseller to try to make a purchase (some companies will have your flagged so you cannot make a purchase), call us to discuss your legal rights and potential exposure. We have settled HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of software audit cases with major publishers such as:
- Siemens
- Adobe
- Microsoft
- VB Conversion
- Ansys
- PTC
- Bentley
- Autodesk
- Hexagon/Vero
- Dessault/Solidworks
- KPMG
These are just some of the companies we have dealt with.
What to do when you get the audit or demand letter
The simple A,B, and C of handling and surviving a software audit are:
A. Lawyer-up (in most cases, they have experienced software infringement lawyers on their team)
B. Do not delete or destroy software (this can actually create more problems for spoliation of evidence)
C. Figure out what your legal exposure is (this is where an experienced law firm comes in).
We figure out where things stand. Because we have so much experience with so many different vendors, we are familiar with each of their pricing and settlement schemes. We know the ins and outs of their settlement agreements, and when copyright lawsuits are threatened, well, we have been there as well, having litigated hundreds of federal court copyright cases. In this niche area of law, there is no substitute for experience.
Contact us for a free, confidential assessment of your case
For more information, contact us at (877) 276-5084 or fill out our contact form. We offer low flat rate (one-time) fees to represent most software audit clients.
