The following is an edited transcript of the video above.

Today we want to talk to you about Oracle’s recent lawsuit for copyright infringement against Envisage. Note that Palisade Compliance does not represent Envisage, nor do we represent Oracle. We only have Oracle’s side of the story, so we eagerly await Envisage’s response to the lawsuit.

Oracle is a very litigious company; they file lawsuits and engage in lawsuits all the time. But this particular lawsuit is a textbook case study in how Oracle behaves when they believe their IP is threatened. It also highlights what not to do if you’re an Oracle customer, using their software, and are up against Oracle in a similar situation.

7 important takeaways from Oracle vs Envisage:

  1. Anything you say can and may be used against you in the Court of Oracle. Whether you say something on your website, LinkedIn, another company’s press release, or have a public contract, Oracle can use information that is provided directly OR indirectly and use it against you.
  2. Despite what Oracle sales reps may say, you can use Oracle anywhere. Point back to your contract – the contract is king. If a sales rep gives you a hard time about where you are using your Oracle licenses, you can even show this docket where Oracle acknowledges you can pretty much use Oracle anywhere.
  3. Oracle legal here is saying you need to buy support when you buy a license, but that’s not true. Oracle makes it clear in their contracts that licenses and services are segmentable. There is more complexity of using Oracle and getting support through a third-party like AWS, but you can pretty much do whatever you want when it comes to support.
  4. Be careful if you’re using Standard Edition. Oracle will try to use non-compliance with SE to get you to buy Enterprise Edition if they think you are using SE outside the boundaries of your license. Read more here about Oracle SE2 licensing.
  5. Oracle terms and conditions are very complex. Oracle puts the responsibility on the customer to understand their Ts &Cs and it’s the customer’s responsibility to stay in compliance.
  6. There is a right way and a wrong way to deal with Oracle. Completely cutting of comminication is absolutely the wrong thing to do. If you cut off communication from Oracle and you are using their software, you put yourself at risk of retaliation from Oracle. Be careful and make sure you are engaging Oracle properly.
  7. Get help from Palisade Compliance. It appears that the whole Oracle vs Envisage lawsuit probably could have been avoided with better license management, better understanding of contracts, and better engagement with Oracle.

Read the transcript of court proceedings in Oracle v Envisage (PDF, 263 KB).