Forever 21's licensing model dubbed 'unforgivable'

The ITAM Review attacks Forever 21's software licensing following Adobe lawsuit over copyright infringement

The ITAM Review, a community resource for IT and software asset management, has described retailer Forever 21's alleged copyright infringement of Adobe software as "unforgivable".

Adobe last week filed a lawsuit against the US fashion giant for the "unauthorised reproduction of certain Adobe Products, Autodesk Products, and Corel Products onto computers located at their premises".

In the filing it stated that the "defendants' acts and omissions constitute wilful, intentional, and malicious infringement of the Adobe Copyrights, Autodesk Copyrights, and Corel Copyrights in violation of the Copyright Act".

David Foxen, analyst at The ITAM Review, condemned the actions of Forever 21.

"There is simply no excuse for them [Forever 21] to be using pirated or illegal copies of software. The fact that Adobe also told them they were infringing copyrights and they still continued to do so is unforgivable," he said.

Foxen went on to say that, regardless of the size of your organisation, no corporation can get around software licensing and, "if you are found to be using software illegally, then you will be caught and fined".

"This is also a wake-up call for the retail world and other organisations," he said. "You are not safe from the auditors. If you are using software illegally or using pirated software then you will be caught," he added.

"Now is the time for organisations to start addressing their software estates and taking software licensing seriously. We keep saying it, but now is the time to start implementing ITAM and addressing the software risks within the organisation."

Forever 21 had not responded for requests for comment at time of publication.