When a consumer or a business purchase software, it is critical
to retain the software license as proof of the rights conveyed as
part of the license. One of the issues that arises during a
software audit is that a) companies are using software that is many
years old; b) it is difficult for the company to find the physical
copy of its licenses; and c) older licenses are not always readily
available online.
When a company is audited and cannot locate the software
license, it is difficult to determine what audit rights the
publishers have and what use rights the end users have. It is
important to have access to the license agreement that governed use
of the particular edition and version of the software because
license metrics and terms change rapidly. If the license is
missing, there are several steps the licensee can take to try to
find the license;
