Moscone Center - Room 201, South Hall
San Francisco, CA
Wilson Sonsini attorneys John McGaraghan and Andrew Poling will lead a discussion on open source software at the Game Developers (GDC) 2023 Conference. Given the importance of open source software to any software product – including games – developers have a vested interest in contributing to the health and vitality of the open source community. Because many developers are not aware of the best practices for contributing, this session will provide a brief overview of what it means to contribute to open source, the legal mechanics by which contributions are made, and some of the considerations that individual developers and companies face when making decisions about what and how to contribute.
The session will cover reasons to contribute to the community, factors to consider in making that choice, various forms of contribution agreement and the legal implications, the implications for protection and maintenance of intellectual property rights, and the interplay between employee IP agreements and company policies around contribution.
Rebecca Poizner
rpoizner@wsgr.comAndrew Poling is senior counsel in the Boston office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he is a member of the technology transactions practice. He specializes in strategic commercial transactions and mergers and acquisitions for technology companies. His clients range from multinational enterprises to cutting edge start-ups in various industries, including cloud computing, electronic gaming and entertainment, fintech, and other software-centric industries. Andrew’s practice covers a range of activities associated with acquiring and commercializing technology and intellectual property. These activities include drafting and negotiating a variety of intellectual property-focused and complex transactions, such as software license agreements, cloud computing agreements, services agreements, reseller agreements, supply agreements, and agreements for other types of commercial and strategic transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions.