About Software Licensing

Each copy of all software used at the University (except shareware - whose use should be registered as specified by the owner, public domain software, and software developed by the University) must be covered by a license agreement. When the software is purchased in a shrinkwrapped package, the license agreement is included. When obtained in other ways, software must be covered by a departmentwide agreement, a campuswide agreement, or a Universitywide agreement. If it is not, its use is illegal.

Universitywide agreements protect against unlicensed software use and help reduce costs. They are established based on input from the Universitywide Advisory Group on Technical Acquisition Support (TAS). This group includes representatives from each campus.

Software license agreements have many names: site licenses, volume purchase agreements, etc. These terms will not be used here because they are frequently misinterpreted. The terms "limited volume software license agreements" and "unlimited volume software license agreements" will be used instead.

Every Universitywide software license agreement can be described as either a limited volume software license agreement or an unlimited volume software license agreement, although most Universitywide agreements belong to the first category. Under a limited volume software license agreement, the University commits to purchasing a minimum number of licenses either initially or throughout the time period covered by the agreement. If the commitment is not met, the University may have to pay for unused licenses, the discount on future purchases may be reduced, the agreement may be terminated, or the agreement may not be renewed. Under an unlimited volume software license agreement, no commitment to buy a minimum number of copies is made, but it is expected that the software will be widely distributed.

Both types of agreements require the University to adhere to the terms of the agreement. These terms vary. Some of the options for agreement length, payment, distribution, maintenance, and support are described below.

• Software license agreements typically span one to three years, although they may also cover a much longer period.
• They often require an initial or annual payment that effectively provides a deep discount for individual purchases. This payment is generally recharged to the departments using the software, though it may be borne by the campus. A small number of volume software license agreements require only payment for individual purchases and users are billed directly.
• Copies of the software may be provided by the vendor to a central distribution point on each campus or directly to individual users. Campuses participating in any limited volume license agreement and in some unlimited volume license agreements must track the number of copies distributed.
• It may or may not be possible to use the software on systems personally owned by individual University faculty members, staff, and students.
• Software updates and bug fixes are generally provided upon payment of a separate maintenance fee, although they may be available without charge for the first year. This fee may be paid by the individual users, recharged to participating departments, or borne by the campus.
• Documentation may be obtained from the vendor (either as part of a shrinkwrapped package or separately), from a bookstore, or from a central campus distribution point such as the campus bookstore or a computing services department.
• Technical support may be provided to individual users or only to one or more campus contacts.

As indicated above, license agreement terms vary. Since individual campus implementations may vary as well, it is essential for users to understand both the terms of all applicable agreements and the details of their campus' implementation. For additional general information about Universitywide license agreements or to suggest products for Universitywide license agreements, please contact your campus' representative to the Universitywide Advisory Group on Technical Acquisition Support. For information about specific Universitywide license agreements, refer to "Existing Universitywide Software and Hardware Agreements" and contact the individuals listed therein for the software that interests you. For information about campuswide agreements, please consult your campus server or your representative to the Universitywide Advisory Group on Technical Acquisition Support.

Systemwide IT Contracts