The chances are high that your company uses open source software (“OSS”) in some capacity. While the benefits of OSS are clear, it is also clear that OSS can pose significant legal risks that must be addressed. The best way to manage these risks is to have a clearly written and enforced OSS policy.

In general terms, OSS refers to software that is licensed under an OSS license. OSS refers to a type of license. It is not a type of software. The same software can be distributed under different licenses, at the election of the initial developer.