The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has agreed out-of-court settlements with four more companies for the alleged use of illegal and unlicensed software.

The undisclosed sums were settled with London-based Blitz Corporation, Genetics Limited of Ludlow, Sheffield-based MTL Group and Modular UK, based in East Yorkshire.

BSA investigators revealed that martial arts supplier, Blitz Corporation Limited, was operating with around 15 PCs containing unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft and Quark software.

It was also illegally using OEM editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista, as well as unlicensed student editions of QuarkXpress Passport and Adobe CS3 Master Collection.

Genetics Limited, a medical research company, and Modular UK Building Systems Limited were also found to be running illegal copies of Microsoft Office and Adobe and Autodesk software.

Contract manufacturing firm MTL Group Limited was investigated for the alleged under licensing of several copies of Autodesk AutoCAD.

Sarah Coombes, senior director for Legal Affairs EMEA at the BSA, said: “The BSA takes a firm line against the disregard of software licensing regulations. Businesses of all sizes can find managing their software assets challenging, but as software is often the most valuable business assets a company has, it must be managed appropriately.

“The BSA and its members are focused upon educating businesses on the risks of illegal software. With recent high-profile campaigns completed in Glasgow and Manchester, the BSA aims to raise awareness of the risks in conjunction with politicians and business groups. If businesses are using unlicensed or illegal software then they are infringing copyright, the BSA will take the appropriate action on behalf of its members.”

Najeeb Khan, BSA UK Member Committee vice chair, added: “The loss of time, legal expense and damage to reputation never justifies any company not being fully licensed. It is a false economy to believe your vital data or customer files can be safely and effectively stored on software that you have not licensed.”