Perpetual Licence Doesn't Mean Forever
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The English High Court has held that the term "perpetual" has "different shades of meaning" in the context of a software licence. The parties in this case had entered into a licence agreement and a support agreement (required by the licence agreement), which were later amended by a variation agreement stating the licence would be "extended [to a] perpetual licence." The licensee terminated the support agreement but claimed the licence agreement continued, because the grant of the perpetual licence in the variation agreement meant that relevant termination clauses in the licence agreement were superseded.
The Court said that while "perpetual" can mean something that is "never ending (in the sense of incapable of being brought to an end)", it can also mean that a thing is "of indefinite duration, but subject to any contractual provisions governing termination". In this case, the Court held that the latter meaning applied.
While one might assume "perpetual" means forever, the case makes it clear that the courts may not always agree!
A link to the judgment can be found here.
