Software Licensing: Principles and Practical Strategies

Software Licensing: Principles and Practical Strategies provides practitioners with a comprehensive analysis of the concepts and methods of software licensing with an emphasis on the contract and intellectual-property interface of this process. Author Michael L. Rustad examines key clauses and negotiating points that both licensors and licensees confront in licensing software, as well as provides insight into the larger business implications of software-licensing strategies.

Michael L. Rustad, Ph.D., J.D., LL.M. is the Thomas F. Lambert Jr. Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Intellectual Property Law Concentration at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2009-10, he is the Hugh C. Culverhouse distinguished visiting chair at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida. He teaches International Contract Law, e-Business Law, and Complex Corporate Litigation in Suffolk's LL.M. program in the International Business LL.M. in Budapest, Hungary. He has also taught international business law subjects in Hungary, Mexico, and Sweden. He has received the Cornelius Moynihan Award for teaching selected by graduated seniors three times in the past fifteen years. He has also received the Thomas McMahon award for dedication to students and in 2009 was the co-recipient of the Charles P. Kindregan Award for Extraordinary Contributions to Advanced Legal Studies and Continuing Legal Education. The U.S. Supreme Court and many state supreme courts, federal district and appellate courts have cited his empirical studies in opinions. He clerked for the late Judge William E. Doyle of the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado. Prior to becoming a law professor, he was an associate of the Boston law firm of Foley, Hoag. NBC Dateline, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, ABA Magazine, and many other national publications have interviewed Professor Rustad on diverse legal topics. He has authored or co-authored three amicus curiae briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of punitive damages. Professor Rustad's most recent books include: (1) E-Business Legal Handbook (Aspen Law & Business, 2003); (2) Understanding Sales, Leases and Licenses in a Global Perspective (Carolina Academic Press 2008); (3) Tort Law: Cases, Problems, Perspectives (LEXIS, 2008) (with Galligan et. al.); (4) Everyday Consumer Law (Paradigm Publishers, 2008); and (5) Internet Law in a Nutshell (Westlaw 2009). He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and is a member of the Member Consultative Groups of the Restatement of the Law Third Torts and The Principles of the Law of Software Contracts. He was elected to the Executive Committee of the American Association of Law Schools AALS Section on Torts and Compensation Systems. He is the chair-elect of the AALS Torts and Compensation Section and will serve in 2010-11. He has also served as a Task Force leader for the ABA Business Law Section on Information Licensing. He has taught courses in software licensing since the early 1990s. Professor Rustad and his wife, Chryss J. Knowles have two grown children: James Knowles Rustad, M.D., who is also a talented musician and Erica Knowles Rustad, J.D., a new member of the Florida and New Jersey bars.