BCS Edinburgh Branch

Open Source - the legal and commercial implications

Wednesday 10th January 2007, 6:30 pm

Speakers: Peter Vass and Chris Martin, Pinsent Masons

Venue: The Royal Scots Club Hepburn Suite, 30 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh EH3 6QE - map and direction.

This talk is free of charge and no reservation is required. Non members are most welcome. Refreshments available from 6:10 pm.

Presentation from the meeting (pdf)

Synopsis

During the course of the last five years, the growth of Open Source software solutions has enabled thousands of “early adopter” companies to cut costs and gain competitive advantage through appropriate Open Source deployments. The exciting benefits of Open Source have been exemplified in the runaway success of products such as Linux, now one of the world's leading operating systems, and the Apache Web HTTP Server, which is the most popular server software on the internet. Whilst many Open Source adopters have to date disregarded the legal and commercial risks associated with the movement, recent high profile litigation (most notably the SCO litigation regarding Linux) has indicated that a more balanced approach should be taken, recognising that the rewards of Open Source are inevitably accompanied by a degree of risk. This one-hour seminar provides an introduction to open source together with a jargon-free overview of the licensing models and the legal issues.

About the Speakers

		Peter Vass is a Senior Associate in Pinsent Masons' Outsourcing, Technology and Commercial Group, based in Edinburgh. He provides non-contentious IT law advice to both customer and supplier clients in the public and private sectors, in the UK, Europe and internationally, including outsourcing, software licensing, hardware acquisition, system integration, and telecommunications equipment and services acquisition. Peter is dual qualified in Scots and English law and spent seven years living and working in England before returning to Scotland in January 2006.
		Chris Martin is an Associate in Pinsent Masons' Outsourcing, Technology and Commercial Group, Chris advises clients on non-contentious intellectual property and information technology law matters. Having spent 2 years on secondment to the technology transfer office of Scotland's leading research university, Chris has particular expertise in advising on commercial contracts relating to the development, protection and exploitation of intellectual property rights. In particular, Chris has extensive experience of drafting and negotiating collaborative research and development agreements and in assisting clients implement successful IP licensing strategies. Chris helps a broad spectrum of clients, ranging from high-growth technology start-ups to some of the UK's most-respected research institutions, make the most of their intellectual assets.