New Form: Customer’s ITMA (Information Technology Master Agreement)
We’ve posted a new contract in the forms library — and it’s available in MS Word (no charge, as always). It’s meant to serve as a customer’s primary contract for purchasing any and all IT (other than hardware or IaaS): namely, licensed software, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and/or IT professional services. You can use it to acquire […]
New Contract Form: Mobile App License & Subscription
We’ve posted a new contract in the forms library — and it’s available to you in MS Word (no charge, as always). The new form is a mobile app terms of service: a “clickwrap” contract, meant to be downloaded with software that goes on a mobile phone or other mobile device (e.g., through the iPhone […]
Must the Buyer Pay for Technology or Maintenance if Implementation Doesn’t Happen?
This article is a report I prepared for one of the parties in litigation outside the United States. I served as what American courts would call an expert witness. This article is published with my client’s permission. The parties’ names have been replaced, and identifying information has been removed. This article explores an issue common […]
The Big Data Licensing Issue-Spotter
Managing and sharing big data creates technical challenges unlike anything found in traditional data-sharing relationships. But big data contracts don’t involve a whole new field of legal knowledge. If you’ve already worked on cloud computing agreements or traditional data licenses, you have most of the tools needed for big data licensing. (Actually, cloud computing contracts […]
Avoid Licenses to “Use” Software
A lot of software licenses grant the recipient the right to “use” software. But the use license springs from a misunderstanding of copyright law. As a result, it’s not clear. A use license may give broader rights than the provider intends or narrower rights than the recipient needs. I’m going to suggest a better, simpler […]
Instead of a “Feedback License,” Draft a Disclaimer of Idea Restrictions
In last week’s post, I addressed the myth of idea ownership. I explained that no one can own an abstract idea. I also argued that, therefore, no one needs a “feedback license.” In a feedback license, a company’s contractors or partners give it a license to any suggestions they provide about the company’s products or […]
No One Can Own an Abstract Idea (So You Don’t Need a “Feedback License”)
Technology companies often worry about ownership of ideas they hear. If a contractor or partner gives us an idea, do we need a license to use it? What if it’s an idea about our own product or service? The concern often prompts a “feedback license”: a sentence or two tacked onto a contract about professional […]
Don’t Use License Agreements for Software as a Service
Most IT contract drafters know the difference between a software license agreement and a technology services contract. In a license, the customer gets rights to copy and use software, while in a services contract, the customer gets a service, like tech support or IT consulting. But software as a service (SaaS) seems to throw a […]