A Western District of New York Magistrate Judge recently recommended that claims filed by the owners of several copyrighted songs (allegedly performed without their permission) should be dismissed as a result of the plaintiffs membership in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). In ruling on a number of pre-trial matters, the Judge independently raised the issue of the plaintiffs standing to sue based on ASCAP membership agreements they had attached to a motion for... Read Full Story

The BSA and SIIA are not the only organizations pursuing business for software copyright infringement. Though it is a member of both the BSA and SIIA, Autodesk, which manufactures the popular design software AutoCAD, often pursues audit targets on its own. The audits begin much like those instituted by the BSA or SIIA. The target of Autodesks audit will receive a letter from a law firm representing Autodesk demanding the business cooperation in disclosing the number Autodesk installations... Read Full Story

New Licensing Model for Microsoft Windows Web Server 2008 Microsoft will apply a new licensing model to Windows Web Server 2008. Microsoft will no longer restrict the number of users that can access the Web Server. Though Windows Web Server 2003 did not require Client Access Licenses (CALs), it did limit access to 50 users. CALs are licenses that allow a user or machine to access the functionality of the server software. A CAL is separate and distinct from the server software license and... Read Full Story