Autodesk Reaches Settlements in Lawsuits Against Two Companies to Recoup More Than $260,000 in Software Piracy Losses

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced that it has reached settlements totaling more than $260,000 with two companies that were making and using illegal copies of its software -- Avalon Engineering and Feinberg & Associates, PC. Autodesk filed suit in California against both companies. To date, Autodesk has pursued more than 6,000 companies using unauthorized copies of Autodesk software, and has posted total recoveries of more than $60 million in North America since Autodesk's Piracy Prevention Department was formed in 1989.

As part of its Autodesk Piracy Prevention program -- whose charter is to educate customers and the general public about software piracy and its damaging effects on the economy and product innovation -- the company is aggressively seeking legal recourse against copyright infringers. Avalon Engineering, a civil engineering and land development company, located in Cape Coral, Florida agreed to settle the copyright infringement lawsuit pending against it by paying Autodesk more than $130,000 as penalties for infringing Autodesk copyrights and for Avalon to acquire licenses for additional software to bring Avalon into compliance. After being served with the Autodesk suit, Avalon promptly responded and cooperated to resolve the litigation. Avalon admitted to unauthorized installations of five software products, including AutoCAD(R), Autodesk(R) Land Desktop, Autodesk(R) Architectural Desktop, Autodesk(R) Civil Design, and Autodesk(R) Survey. Avalon is also subject to future inspections by Autodesk in order to confirm the absence of unauthorized copies of Autodesk's products.

Feinberg & Associates, PC is a land planning, architecture, and interior design firm. After receiving information that Feinberg & Associates was using unauthorized copies of its software, including AutoCAD, at its New Jersey headquarters, Autodesk sued Feinberg & Associates for violation of federal copyright law and Feinberg & Associates' alleged use of illegal copies of Autodesk's software. Feinberg & Associates responded quickly and provided a thorough report as to their Autodesk software installations. As part of the more than $130,000 settlement, Feinberg paid a substantial penalty as provided by law for past unauthorized installations and acquired the software needed to conform to Autodesk's license agreement and the Copyright Law. Feinberg & Associates will also be subject to regular inspections by Autodesk representatives in order to confirm the absence of infringing Autodesk software. In addition, Feinberg & Associates agreed to distribute a policy against unauthorized software installation and use at the company.

"It is critical that companies properly audit and manage their software to avoid the financial penalties and damage to their reputation that can arise from software piracy lawsuits," said Sandy Boulton, director of the Piracy Prevention Department at Autodesk. "There is no excuse for theft and it is everyone's ethical responsibility to pay for the software they are using."

Autodesk is a founding member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the voice of the world's leading software developers before governments and with consumers in the international marketplace. The BSA educates computer users on software copyrights, advocates public policy that fosters innovation and expands trade opportunities, and fights software piracy. 

About Autodesk

Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital content company, offering customers progressive business solutions through powerful technology products and services. Autodesk helps customers in the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields increase the value of their digital design data and improve efficiencies across their entire project lifecycle management processes. 

www.autodesk.com

 

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