Many businesses have software licenses that are tailored to the
business' needs, and are for business operations on a
day-to-day basis. But what happens if the software provider goes
out of business or discontinues support for the software? In short,
the business may not have meaningful access to necessary software
after it is no longer offered or supported by the
publisher. That is, unless the business negotiated a source
code escrow agreement.
A source code escrow agreement is an agreement to deposit the
source code of the software with a third party escrow agent. During
the negotiation of the software license agreement, the licensee
(the business seeking the software for its business needs) can
request that the publisher place the source code into escrow and
release the source code upon a defaulting event. A defaulting event
is usually defined as insolvency, or the filing of bankruptcy by
the software provider, or the inability of the software provider to
maintain
