FindLaw | For the Public | For Small Business | For Legal Professionals | Find a Lawyer
Findlaw for Small Business    
Copyright Basics Getting a Copyright Ownership &
Licensing 		Fair Use Real World Copyrights International Copyright Copyright Resources Get Help Now

Find A Lawyer

Select type of practice:

Enter City or Zip:

Browse Lawyers by State

Browse by Type of Practice

Submit Your Legal Issue

Search

Enter Search Term:

Message Boards

Select a Board:

FindLaw > FindLaw for Small Business > Copyright > Ownership & Licensing
My current location: Los Angeles, CA | Change location
   

Featured Attorneys
Hankin Patent Law, A Professional Corporation
West Hollywood, CA - Premier Full-Service Intellectual Property Law Firm serving all of Southern California. 310-275-6946
Wang, Hartmann, Gibbs & Cauley, P.L.C.
Newport Beach, CA - Highly Skilled Intellectual Property Attorneys Representing Businesses Nationwide. All Areas of IP Law. 1-888-WHGCLaw(944-2529)
Oswald & Yap
Serving Los Angeles and Orange Counties - Experienced & Effective Representation: Trademark, Patent, Copywrite and Licensing Matters. (949) 788-8900

Software License Considerations

So your firm has developed a new software package and wants to get it on the market. Your lawyer will want you to consider these things to protect your firm with an ironclad license agreement.

  1. You might be infringing on someone else's copyright.

  2. Present employees, former employees, independent contractors, funding sources, and competitor businesses all may claim ownership in your invention.

  3. Laws governing export controls may dictate how you launch your product and where you sell it.

  4. Copyright and/or patent is not automatic. You may need to comply with copyright notice, registration, and publication procedures. You may need to apply for a patent.

  5. What are you going to do to police your licenses and ensure that no one pirates your software?

  6. What aspects of your software are trade secrets (e.g., the architecture, empirical formulas, mathematical constants, and/or the software itself)?

  7. What form will your software license take? Will it be written, implied through use, automatic upon breaking the shrink-wrap, or through on-line registration?

  8. Are you protecting yourself from liability for harm caused by your software?

  9. How are you going to set the price for your software?

  10. What are you firm's plans with respect to release of future versions of the software or development of new software?
Featured Attorneys
Supnik Law Office
Beverly Hills, CA - Copyright, Trademark and Entertainment Law. (310) 859-0100
More Sponsored Services

Form a Corporation – Legal Ace.com has the turn key online system to make starting a corporation easy and affordable.


Delaware LLC: Form a Delaware LLC or Incorporation online! Reliable Services for over 25 Years CALL 1-800-345-2677


Incorporate Online - Legalzoom: Form a corporation or LLC quickly and easily. From LegalZoom, the #1 legal document service.


Incorporate Online: LLCs, Corporations, Corporate Dissolutions, Aged Shelf Corporations. We will beat any competitor's price on Registered Agent or Incorporation services!


Incorporate/Form LLC Online: - Order LLCs or Corporation, Registered Agent, Trademark, or Dissolution Service or buy Corporate Kits & Seals. One stop shopping!