Chapter 18 covers the licensing of commercial software, data and databases. It begins with a discussion of database protection, including the history of legislative attempts to cover data and databases under copyright law, and the divergent pathways taken in the US and EU. It next addresses commercial data and database licensing practices (MD Mark v. Kerr-McGee, Eden Hannon v. Sumitomo). The chapter next discusses data privacy and protection regulations and their implementation in licensing agreements. It next moves to commercial software licensing, discussing the distinctions between source and object code. and offering some background on the legal protection of computer software through copyright, patent and trade secret law. Particular software licensing practices are discussed next, including provisions necessary to license source code, maintenance and support obligations, reverse engineering restrictions. It concludes with a discussion of licensing in the cloud and how different companies have approached this business model.

Much has changed since CompuServe introduced its “Electronic Mall” as the first major retail e-commerce platform in 1984. Digital technologies have driven down costs and improved access and opportunities for producers and consumers, manufacturers and farmers, and above all, users. Digital technologies have transformed how a large part of the global economy operates. A broad range of goods are now digital and thereby intangible, being made up of bytes. Likewise, many services that previously required costly face-to-face contact between the firm and consumer are now available remotely.

Technology has opened international trade – in the form of e-commerce – to a broad range of firms and sectors that beforehand would have been the sole domain of larger multinational companies. Most importantly, technology and the Internet reduced the transaction costs and information asymmetries associated with international trade. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter and search engines like Google and Bing give large and small businesses alike easy ways to advertise services to people around the world.