Building a License Compliance Program

Successful license compliance requires more than tools—it needs organizational processes and culture. Establish clear ownership for license compliance, whether in legal, security, or engineering teams. Create review boards for license exceptions and complex scenarios. Document decisions for consistency and audit trails. Regular training ensures developers understand license implications of their dependency choices.

Integrate license review into development workflows naturally. During design phases, consider license implications of technology choices. Code reviews should flag new dependencies for license analysis. Pull requests automatically check license compliance. Release processes include license audits and attribution generation. This integration makes compliance routine rather than exceptional, reducing last-minute surprises.

Vendor management must address open source licensing. When acquiring software or companies, audit their open source usage for compliance risks. Include license representations and warranties in contracts. Require vendors to provide SBOMs documenting their open source usage. These practices prevent inheriting license violations through supply chain relationships.