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ARTICLE · 09 FEBRUARY 2012

A Practical Guide To Software License Agreements

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
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A software license gives a customer permission to use the licensed software and do other things that might otherwise be an infringement of the software vendor’s rights.

CanadaMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Bradley Freedman
Bradley Freedman
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A software license gives a customer permission to use the licensed software and do other things that might otherwise be an infringement of the software vendor's rights. Customers should understand the scope of the software license and take reasonable precautions to minimize the risk of software misuse.

Kinds of Licenses

There are various kinds of software licenses. Most licenses are "non-exclusive" (the vendor and other licensees can also use the licensed rights), but licenses can be "sole" (the customer is the only licensee, but the vendor can use the licensed rights as well) or "exclusive" (the customer can use the licensed rights to the exclusion of all other persons, including the vendor).

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