10 Simple Steps to Ensure Software Licensing Compliance

摘要

One area where companies can easily get into trouble is having unlicensed software on company computers. Computer software is protected under the U.S. Copyright Act. The Copyright Act provides for strict liability for possessing or using unlicensed software, meaning that your company may be liable for having unlicensed software, even if management does not know about the software or intend to use it. Additional penalties for intentional infringement also exist. The Copyright Act allows for the recovery of damages between $750 and $30,000 per copy of unlicensed software (with damages that may be reduced below that range for innocent infringement and enhanced above that range in the case of willful infringement). Liability for copies of unlicensed software could add up quickly to a large amount if your company were sued when it was notrnin full compliance.