Our Latest Blog Posts on SaaS Contracts
Should I Make SHORT-Term or LONG-Term Commitments to My SaaS Customers? Have you thought about which parts of your SAAS customer contract commitments should be a short-term, and which parts should be long-term? Well, if you have not thought about it, then how about we do that now. What Should/Could Be Short Term? The key […]
Gartner Wrote It (About the Cloud), But Here is a Software Attorney’s Take. Gartner wrote this interesting piece recently called the “Rights and Responsibilities for Consumers of Cloud Computing Services” and published it in the Cloudbook. It is worth a read, and I also have added some of my insights on how and where to address the issues […]
How to Get Sued Over Your Software EULA/SaaS Contract, and Lose! Ok as a EULA Attorney I thought that would grab your attention. Well, there is a recent court case you should be aware of where the software company lost big time (over its Software EULA (applies to SAAS Contracts too)), and now owes the […]
While this may not be one of the most exciting topics, if you work with any type of SaaS agreement you will (or have) run into SaaS indemnity issues. I thought I would break this down into 4 basic issues you should know when your customer/partner asks you to indemnify them. Before we get started, […]
Have You Had Your Software EULA/SaaS Contract TUNEUP for 2010? You know, adjust your contracts to improve their performance…just like your car. Ok, let me explain. Every software or SAAS based business should take a look at their Software EULA or SAAS Contract each year to see if they are 100% consistent with their current […]
I was presenting at the OpenView CFO Forum in Boston (on SAAS contracts) last week to their portfolio companies, and at the conference I learned quite a lot from the Grant Thornton tax presenters about the current state of confusion of the applicability of SAAS sales tax. GT wrote a short article on it, so I […]
So what is up with signing contracts online? Well, what is up is that it is becoming mainstream really fast, and is a great way to speed up the process of having written contracts signed (e.g. your SaaC contract template). You can now skip the faxes going back and forth, mailing of SaaS contract template […]
Why aren’t your policies written so they can be easily consumed by your customers and employees? Look, if Google, one of the largest and most sophisticated technology companies in the world can simplify their policies (in this case their Privacy Policy) then why can’t you (see this post by their Associate General Counsel regarding updating their […]
Quick background: Oracle was sued on July 29, 2010 by the Department of Justice alleging that Oracle overcharged the government when it licensed its software. How does this work? Well, when a company wants to sell a significant volume of software to the government they file what is called a CSP-1 (Commercial Sales Practices Format […]
Why EDUCATION is So Important to Software Negotiations or SaaS Negotiations Think about it. One of the most important things to remember — maybe the most important thing — is that it is really important to educate your customer, partner, etc. about your Software or SAAS model when negotiating the software eula or SAAS contract (i.e. […]
What Does a Software/SaaS Company Need to Know About the Creative Commons License Program? Any software or SAAS executive should learn about this, even if this does not affect their software EULA or SAAS contract. This is just one of those things to be aware of, because it is a big deal in the licensing […]
While I know a little bit about SAAS accounting issues, there are people that know a lot more about it. I ran into Jay Howell (from BDO Seidman) at a recent SAAS seminar I presented at (regarding SAAS contracts) in Washington DC (he is the technical guru on SAAS issues at BDO), and I thought […]
Reverse Engineering Software for Interoperability – LAW UPDATE July 2010 This is a hot issue, so whether you have a software EULA or SAAS contract protecting your software, you may want to learn more about reverse engineering and its legality (i.e. looking under the hood). In essence, most software and SAAS contracts specifically state that […]
Ok as a software attorney, what I am asking are your agreements simple or complex (hey, maybe even a plain English SaaS Agreement)? Have you thought about it? I find that most companies don’t really think about these kind of issues (or at least if they do, it is on the bottom of their list). Let […]
Contract or Policy? Which One Does a Software Company Need and When! While this is a complex issue (like many legal issues), from the perspective of a software and SAAS attorney, I think there are some practical tips to remember when thinking about when to use policies and when to use contracts. FIRST, THE DEFINITIONS. Policies […]
What is the Purpose of a End User Agreement (EULA or SaaS Agreement)? While this may seem basic, from the perspective of a software attorney, it is something that I often discuss with clients. If you think about it, end user agreements (whether an EULA or SAAS Agreement) are arguably more important than contracts in […]