If your company has received a letter from the BSA | The Software Alliance requesting a software audit, you are probably wondering whether you should cooperate or ignore the request. I have been handling BSA cases for almost a decade and advise my clients to cooperate but to do so in a manner that will…
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 or former employees who provide information about allegedly unlicensed software installed on their employers’ computers….
Another way in which publishers or auditing entities raise the amount in controversy in software audits is the attempt to assess separate “fines” for each allegedly infringing installation of a software product. Thus, a company reporting just ten undocumented installations of Office Professional 2007, with no other licensing shortfalls, may receive a settlement offer based…
Most BSA Audits begin with a report from a disgruntled employee or former employee. The Business Software Alliance maintains telephone hotlines and a web site to encourage disgruntled employees and vendors to make anonymous reports against companies of all sizes. The BSA dedicates a substantial portion of its revenue marketing on radio stations and the…
Part of negotiating a settlement for alleged software licensing violations with the Business Software Alliance (BSA) involves certain provisions that have far-reaching implications. A key to understanding those provisions involves carefully reading and dissecting each subsection. Often, one of the most important provisions, aside from the sections resolving a company’s alleged liability for copyright infringement,…
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) hunts down and audits companies when it receives information that those companies may have software products that are not properly licensed. If a company audited by the BSA is found to have more installations of software products than is reflected in its licensing documentation, it is generally more cost effective…
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, having been fired by the target, I advise my clients about the number one rule…
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is an organization that pursues copyright infringement claims on behalf of many software publishers against companies it accuses of violating its members’ software license agreements. Because the cost of litigation in most cases outweighs the cost to settle out of court, the BSA often is able to force businesses to comply…
Companies react in different ways after receiving a letter from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) or the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) demanding a software audit. Some ignore the letter, assuming it to be some kind of spam or marketing ploy. This is not advisable. Audit demands from the BSA and SIIA generally are…
If your company has received a letter from the BSA requesting a software audit, you are probably wondering whether you should cooperate or tell the BSA to pound sand. I advise my clients to cooperate but to do so in a manner that will not jeopardize their legal position in the event that cooperation does…
