It’s important that consumers understand what software licensing is and that without it they could be breaching copyright law and could then be subject to litigation.
What is software licensing?
A software license is an agreement or legal instrument that allows consumers to redistribute or use a particular piece or type of software. The creators or owners of a particular piece of software provide an agreement or software license that stipulates the ways in which an end user may use their software. Without this software licensing agreement it may be illegal to use this software and all software must be licensed legally before it’s installed. This applies whether the software is a free version or purchased from the owner or a third party.
Software Licensing Methods
One way vendors use to license their software is an end-user License agreement or EULA. This agreement forms a contract between the purchaser and the licensor; it outlines the rights and obligations of the user when using the software.
Sometimes the software license is subscription based where a user pays a fee usually monthly or yearly to use the software. This is often a more flexible arrangement and allow for different variations and the ability to scale your usage of the software so you are paying only for what you use
White labelling is where one company is rebranding another company’s product under license or agreement. The software still belongs to the creator, but they are able to resell or distribute the software and offer the appropriate software licensing to consumers.
Why is software licensing important?
There are several reasons why software licensing is important, the legal aspect where you are using someone else’s property that is subject to copyright is a major reason as it could be costly if you are involved in a copyright lawsuit, both to defend or represent yourself and the cost of damages if found liable.
The other aspects of software licensing are that you can be sure that you are getting an authentic and working copy that provides you with all relevant and important updates. These are important as they make sure your software is efficient and any programming problems are resolved, you are then also able to receive assistance as required from the software owner’s administration and customer services departments for problems with bug fixing and to make minor adjustments and enhancements
They also ensure that the latest security systems are in place to prevent data breaches, cybercrime and malware. These security preventative measures are updated to your software, automatically as required, if you have a software licensing agreement in place. But if you don’t
have a license or you are operating on a black-market version of the software, then you will be very unlikely to get any updates
Software licensing helps protect the integrity of the industry by weeding out substandard and black-market (which are often expired and open to corruption) software applications and it allows you to avail the software manufactures customer services and get critical updates as required for security and system debugging. Software applications and subscriptions can be expensive, if you have licenses you no longer require or don’t use it can be a substantial waste of your company’s resources so it’s important to check your licenses and subscriptions regularly.
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