Spring Cleaning: Fix contract terms for data transfers from the UK
[Things don’t stand still in the world of data privacy. Check out our updates: https://www.techcontracts.com/2023/07/21/personal-data-transfers-schrems/, and background here – The Clock is Ticking: Are Your Contract Terms Out-of-Date for Transfers of Personal Data Subject to the GDPR?; Third Time Lucky? Personal Data Transfers between the U.S., EU, UK; Draft EU “Adequacy Decision” for Data Transfers to U.S. Now What?] […]
Court Decision Citing David Tollen, Expert Witness
We’re proud to announce that David Tollen was recently cited and relied upon as an expert witness in a Massachusetts appellate decision. The case was Akamai v. Commissioner of Revenue, and David testified for Akamai, the prevailing (winning) party. Akamai provides the world’s largest content delivery system: a backbone component of the Internet itself. Akamai […]
Make a Tech Contract training resolution for 2022 – with Tech Contracts Academy®
Happy New Year! As you plan to expand your tech contracting knowledge in 2022, consider enrolling in Tech Contracts Academy’s trainings – which include live Q&A with David Tollen: Tech Contracts Master Classes™: The next series of four on-line Tech Contracts Master Classes launches January 20th. If you’re on the fence about enrolling, don’t delay […]
Open Source Contracts
Everyone should know about a new movement: open source contracts. Products and services would be sold under terms posted online by uninvolved third parties — and widely accepted by the community of customers and providers. The parties could avoid or reduce negotiation and drafting by adopting those contracts. Like open source software and content, but […]
Ten Key Data Terms in IT Contracts: An Issue-Spotter
[We updated this post in November of 2022. Click here for the new version.] Here are ten issues to consider when addressing data in IT contracts. This issue-spotter serves both customers and providers, though generally the former benefit more from data protection. Type of Deal: If your contract involves cloud services (SaaS, PaaS, etc.), the […]
Minimum Royalty and Reasonable Efforts to Distribute
Here are two vital tips for software distribution contracts. They’re for any software provider retaining another company as a distributor. That includes value-added reseller (VAR) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) deals. If you get a percentage of distributor revenues, set a minimum royalty in dollars. Imagine you get a 20% royalty on sales of your […]
Don’t include a DMCA or privacy policy in your contract
This post has been superseded by a new version. Please click here. IT providers often add their copyright (DMCA) and privacy policies to their contracts. They incorporate those policies by reference or just promise to comply. That’s a mistake. If you’re the provider, you gain nothing by incorporating your policies. In fact, you pay a […]
Our inaugural Tech Contracts Master Class™ series starts October 5
We are excited to launch our inaugural Tech Contracts Master Class™ series on October 5. Join us! And check out our webinars; next one is October 20. What are the Master Classes? What do they cover? These four online classes are a comprehensive series designed to cover all the essential topics in IT contracts – […]
Don’t use liquidated damages with termination for convenience
Don’t confuse liquidated damages and early termination fees. Liquidated damages compensate a party for the other’s breach of contract. They work like any other damages, except the parties agree on the amount in advance. (The parties liquidate the damages so they won’t have to fight about the amount later, like in court.) Early termination fees, […]
IP Issues in Tech Contracts (LinkedIn Live Discussion)
We recently discussed typical IP issues in tech contracts, live on LinkedIn. If you have a LinkedIn account, you can watch the program, which lasts just 25 minutes … and costs nothing. Just click the image below.