What is Open-Source License Compliance in SaaS? 

Open-source license compliance is the process of following the terms and conditions of a specific open-source software used within a SaaS application. 

This process also includes:

• recognizing various licenses 
• analyzing open-source components
• fulfilling obligations like providing copyright notices and source code where required

Open-source compliance helps avoid legal issues, ensures transparency, and fosters collaboration among other parties involved. 

Open-source compliance is essential for SaaS companies when they integrate open-source components into their software that contain sensitive information, into new regions with different regulations, or into systems with a higher volume of users. 

Compliance is also necessary to avoid legal repercussions when managing licensing obligations, as well as to implement security measures and procedures to achieve GDPR and HIPAA compliance. 

For example, using open-source libraries to process personal data necessitates adherence to license terms that may dictate data handling procedures and security measures, impacting compliance with frameworks such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and SOC 2.  

It is also important for SaaS companies to put together open-source compliance policies that focus on:

• key licensing points
• support availability 
• protokoły bezpieczeństwa 
• lifecycle management 

The existence of these policies is relevant for the IT department in their task to follow the implementation of regulations and ensure trustholder and customer trust.

Common open-source licenses in SaaS include: 

SaaS providers must carefully review each license’s terms, especially regarding patent clauses and obligations to distribute modified versions or disclose source code, and also be aware of emerging AI-specific licenses. 

In SaaS, non-compliance with open source licenses has numerous risks. These include:

• the threat of legal action by the copyright holders
• financial losses due to litigation or settlement costs
• the disruption of the project as a consequence of remedial measures.

In addition, non-compliance can harm a company’s reputation, credibility and standing among open source communities, which can affect future collaborations. 

Here is a three-way process that SaaS companies can follow: 

1. Obtain a clear understanding of open-source licensing requirements and how they apply to your product.
2. Use tracking tool and monitoring systems to identify all licencji open-source components used. 
3. Consider integrating kontroli zgodności into your DevOps pipeline and making it a routine to find and resolve any compliance issues. 

You can automate open source software license compliance by using dedicated tools in your development process that identify dependencies, find the licenses, and flag possible conflicts.

These tools include:

• FOSSA
• Black Duck SCA
• Anchore’s Grant
• SaaS management products such as Torii oraz Flexera One/Snow Software