Self-Help Remedies for Software Vendors
Henry Gitter · Santa Clara Law Digital Commons (Santa Clara University) · 1993
The rapid growth of the computer industry has created a new operating environment for business.Many firms are now completely dependent on computers to conduct their business affairs.This dependence requires that disputes between software vendors and their clients be resolved quickly and with no disruption to the client's computer system. 1 Recently, a software vendor used what it characterized as "self-help repossession" to resolve a dispute with one of its clients.Such action raises issues that must be examined before this remedy can be sanctioned for use in this novel application.2 This article examines self-help repossession within the context of computer software contracts, and asserts that its use should be confined to a limited set of facts.The first part of this article describes the October 1990 Revlon case where self-help was used to repossess computer software.'The article then discusses the background and rationale underlying selfhelp repossession.Part II reviews the Uniform Commercial Code's (U.C.C.) support of self-help repossession and the weaknesses inherent in the U.C.C.'s provisions as they apply to software disputes.Part III outlines other legal doctrines containing self-help provisions that fail to support software repossession.Finally, Part IV proposes the use of self-help repossession in a limited set of circum-