Gadzooks – The Standard ERP Software Licence Strikes Again! Lessons Learned From Samuels & Son Seafood Co., Inc. v. Infor (US) — The perils of standard software license agreements for customers of ERP solutions explained
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John Beardwood
Abstract
Every once in a while a technology lawsuit comes along which is not in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and does not involve major customers, but nevertheless encapsulates the unfortunate experiences that many medium-sized enterprises have with software implementations. The case of Samuels & Son Seafood Co., Inc., v. Infor (US), Inc., is exactly that lawsuit. It again evidences the importance of customers engaging in a robust procurement for the selection of both the ERP software licensor and the implementer; the perils of customers agreeing to inappropriately standard and time-banded limited warranties in ERP implementations; where an ERP failure has occurred, the challenge of suing only the licensor and not the implementer; and finally, the strong headwinds customers will face in endeavoring to compensate for contracts which fail to reflect pre-contractual promises of software functionality, by vainly trying to rely on implied warranties of fitness and merchantability. The article first provides an overview of the failure of the project (I.) and reviews the lawsuit from the perspective of the customer (Samuels & Son Seafood Co., Inc.) and then the vendor (Infor (US), Inc.); (II.). Then the examination of the key issues leads to five lessons learned from the lawsuit (III.) and two general observations (IV.).
© 2025 by Verlag Dr. Otto Schmidt KG, Gustav-Heinemann-Ufer 58, 50968 Köln.
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- Gadzooks – The Standard ERP Software Licence Strikes Again! Lessons Learned From Samuels & Son Seafood Co., Inc. v. Infor (US) — The perils of standard software license agreements for customers of ERP solutions explained
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Articles in the same Issue
- Title
- Table of Contents
- Imprint
- Articles
- Gadzooks – The Standard ERP Software Licence Strikes Again! Lessons Learned From Samuels & Son Seafood Co., Inc. v. Infor (US) — The perils of standard software license agreements for customers of ERP solutions explained
- GDPR Enforcement Beyond EU-Borders — The Dutch Data Protection Authority’s Fine on Clearview AI and the Future of AI Regulation & Enforcement
- Ouch – that’s gotta hertz: Lessons Learned from Hertz v. Accenture — Five strong incentives to avoid the stage of publicly filing pleadings
- Case Law
- EU: Scope of the right of access to information according to Article 15 GDPR
- EU: Imposition of Administrative Fines on Enterprises due to infringement of the GDPR
- UK: Problem Gambler’s Consent Insufficient for Cookies or Direct Marketing
- USA: Liability of TikTok for Recommendation on “For Your Page”
- USA: Privacy Protection Against Third Party Tracking Pixel
- USA: Training Non-Generative AI with Copyrighted Material under Fair Use Exception
