UK firm pays £10,000 for software licence 'error'

Retail firm Shore to Shore has agreed an out-of-court settlement of £10,000 following an investigation into its software licences by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The settlement is in respect of unlicensed use of products from Adobe, Apple and Microsoft.

A spokesperson for Shore to Shore said: "It is all too easy to use software which has not been properly licensed or has infringed copyright.

"Following from our experience, we are very supportive of the BSA's initiative for promoting the safe use of software licensing."

The BSA did not reveal precise details of the investigation nor how it had come to know of the infringement. But the organisation urged firms to audit their software use to ensure that they are not in breach of licence agreements.

The BSA said last month that it is receiving an average of one tip-off a day from individuals reporting their employers for failing to have the correct software licences, a rise of 23 per cent on last year.