We Received a Letter from the BSA. What Are Our Options?
The letter is an invitation to resolve what the Business Software Alliance (BSA) believes to be copyright infringement, often called software piracy, without formal litigation. However, be certain that the process is adversarial, just like any threat of litigation.
Your first option is to choose to ignore the letter. This option, of course, is the least likely to resolve the matter because, without a response, the Business Software Alliance will send you follow-up letters and will consider your lack of cooperation when it determines how to resolve your case. Ignoring the BSA will not make it go away and, eventually, you may very well be facing a federal copyright infringement lawsuit.
A second option is for you to complete a software audit according to the instructions provided in the letter and produce the results of that software audit to the BSA. While the Business Software Alliance will appreciate your cooperation, you will likely receive a follow-up letter from the BSA that includes a hefty fine.
A third option is to hire outside help, which may include hiring a technical services company that claims it knows how to conduct a software audit, hiring a law firm that claims it can defend you against a claim of copyright infringement, or just buying software from a company that claims its software can automatically conduct a software audit of your computers. While doing any of these (or all of these) may help you with your BSA audit, only someone with experience and knowledge of both the BSA audit process and the complex software licenses involved by its member publishers can help you compile an audit that minimizes your potential exposure to the BSA.
Your best option is to call Elite Compliance. We can help. The software compliance products and services offered by Elite Compliance were developed by attorneys with over 20 years of software development and software license experience, and are uniquely designed to help you conduct a software audit and prepare an audit report for the Business Software Alliance that maximizes your software license entitlements and minimizes your potential exposure to the BSA. No other company can match our level of technical and legal expertise in understanding and optimizing complex software licenses to legitimately minimize your exposure during a software audit requested by the Business Software Alliance.
While our professionals have extensive experience in assisting companies complete the self-audit requested by the Business Software Alliance, we suggest that any communication with the BSA be through an intellectual property law firm with extensive experience in these matters to fully protect your interests as well as the audit materials created. Whether you decide to hire an attorney or not, Elite Compliance can help.
Give us a call today to learn more about the BSA audit process and our winning strategies that save your company time and money.
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