In case you doubted it, seemingly boilerplate provisions in software license agreements that prohibit the creation of derivative works do mean something, as exemplified in EyePartner, Inc. v. Kor Media Group LLC, No. 4:13-10072 (S.D. Fla. July 15, 2013). The court in this case granted a preliminary injunction based on such an anti-modification provision, as […]
Archive | Software Licenses
Use of Software After Expiration of License Is Copyright Infringement
By Charles Bieneman on July 27, 2013 in Copyright, Licensing, Software Copyright Infringement, Software Licenses
A software owner was granted summary judgment of copyright infringement where its licensee had breached the applicable software license agreement, and continued to use the software after the agreement expired. Clinical Insight v. Louisville Cardiology Med. Group, No. 11-CV-6019T (W.D.N.Y. July 12, 2013). The licensee could not be saved by its allegation that it had […]
Enforcement of a Click-wrap License Agreement
Consumers who casually, even blindly, accept “click-wrap” or “browse-wrap” license agreements will be bound by those agreements so long as the user had a reasonable opportunity to accept or reject the proffered license. A recent case provides a blueprint for how to offer, and then how to enforce, a click-wrap agreement. In Zaltz v. JDate, […]
Software Copyright Infringement Defenses: Ownership of a Copy and Implied License
A defendant accused of infringing a software copyright was, according to facts plead in the plaintiff’s complaint, an owner of a copy of the software under 17 U.S.C. § 117(a)(1). Further, the facts established that the defendant had an implied license. Therefore, the court in Zilyen, Inc. v. Rubber Mfrs. Ass’n, No. 12-0433 (RBW) (D.D.C April 2, […]
Software Licenses and Allocating Risk of Data Loss
The Utah Supreme Court has held that a software vendor is not liable for any damages after its software caused a dentist to lose all of his patient data. In Blaisdell v. Dentrix Dental Systems, Inc., No. 20100392 (Utah S. Ct. June 26, 2012), the court held that a limitation of liabilities provision was enforceable […]
Defining the Scope of a Perpetual Software License
A perpetual software license entitled a licensee only to use versions of the software created before the license agreement terminated, despite the existence of an escrow agreement requiring the deposit in escrow of “all updates” and “all revisions” of the software’s source code. Gene Codes Forensics Inc. v. The City of New York, No. 10 […]