The New Frontier of Software License Disputes

Originally presented:  March 9, 2021     |     Course length:  1.0 hour

In the last year, companies everywhere have rapidly scaled their use, deployment, and reliance on software, adopting unprecedented levels of digital transformation in order to maintain business continuity in the work-from-home era. Software providers have driven a considerable amount of that transformation by offering creative solutions when, just months into the pandemic, customers found that previously bargained-for terms in software license agreements were no match for their business needs. While many parties arrived at amenable agreements, a wave of compliance disputes remains likely. Software providers tasked with auditing, managing, and enforcing license compliance face a new world of challenges and opportunities, while customers who struggled to remain compliant and managed to stave off audits may now be called to task. In a time when maintaining customer relationships has perhaps never been more important, what is there to be won and lost for both parties in such disputes, and what mutually beneficial solutions might be pursued? This presentation will examine the issues software providers should consider as they seek to protect the innovation they bring to market while maintaining amicable customer relationships, as well as steps licensees can take to avoid and manage license disputes.

– Bryan Mechell; Robins Kaplan LLP
– Sara Kilian; Perforce Software, Inc.
– Ellen Levish; Robins Kaplan LLP