Software License Agreement Mexico (Contrato de Licencia de Software)

A Software License Agreement Mexico (Contrato de Licencia de Software) is a written contract governed by Articles 101 through 114 of the Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor (LFDA, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 24 December 1996, with subsequent reforms) by which the copyright owner (titular del derecho de autor) of a computer program (programa de cómputo or software) grants a third party (licenciatario) the right to use that software within specified parameters — including the number of permitted users, the authorized hardware or devices, the geographic territory, and the permitted purposes — without transferring ownership of the copyright or the underlying source code.

The Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor (LFDA) Chapter XI, Articles 101 through 114, constitutes Mexico's primary statutory framework for software copyright protection and licensing. Article 101 LFDA defines a programa de cómputo as the expression in any form — whether in source code (código fuente) or object code (código objeto) — of a set of instructions that when processed by a device with information processing capability produces a specific result. Software is protected from the moment of creation without registration formalities — though registration with the Instituto Nacional del Derecho de Autor (INDAUTOR), the federal registry operated under the Secretaría de Cultura, provides important evidentiary benefits and a public record of ownership.

Article 102 LFDA extends copyright protection to software for the life of the author plus 100 years for works by natural persons, and 75 years from first publication for corporate works (obras de empresa) — the duration applicable to most commercially developed software in Mexico. Article 103 LFDA grants the copyright owner the exclusive rights to authorize or prohibit: reproduction (reproducción) of the software; distribution (distribución) of copies; public communication (comunicación pública); transformation (transformación), including derivative works, adaptations, and ports; and rental (arrendamiento) of software to the public.

Article 107 LFDA provides a statutory fair use exception (uso legítimo) allowing the lawful possessor of a software copy to make backup copies (copias de respaldo) for archival purposes and to adapt the software as necessary for its use on the authorized hardware — this exception cannot be overridden by contract. Article 111 LFDA addresses decompilation: reverse engineering of object code for the limited purpose of achieving interoperability with other programs is permitted only under strictly limited conditions and cannot be used to create a competing product.

Mexican software copyright law operates within the framework of the Convenio de Berna (Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works), to which Mexico has been a party since 1967, and the TRIPS Agreement Article 10 which mandates that WTO members protect computer programs as literary works. The T-MEC (CUSMA/USMCA) Chapter 20 reinforces software protection and specifically addresses technological protection measures (medidas tecnológicas de protección) — circumvention of digital rights management (DRM) systems is actionable under Articles 232 Bis through 232 Quater LFDA.

A Software License Agreement Mexico is required whenever a software developer (desarrollador de software) or software company distributes, sublicenses, or otherwise makes its software available to users or business partners under conditions that preserve the developer's copyright ownership and control over the product.

Commercial software vendors selling software to Mexican businesses or consumers — whether as perpetual licenses (licencias perpetuas), subscription licenses (licencias de suscripción or SaaS), or concurrent user licenses (licencias de usuarios concurrentes) — must execute a Contrato de Licencia de Software with each customer. The agreement defines permitted use, prohibits reverse engineering beyond the LFDA Article 107 exception, limits liability for software defects, and protects the vendor's trade secrets in the source code under Articles 82–84 of the Ley Federal de Protección a la Propiedad Industrial (LFPPI).

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms serving Mexican businesses require a software license or subscription agreement compliant with Mexican copyright law and applicable data protection requirements under the Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares (LFPDPPP). Where the SaaS provider processes personal data of the customer's employees, customers, or users, the agreement must include data processing provisions compliant with LFPDPPP and INAI guidelines.

Enterprise software licenses (licencias de software empresarial) for ERP systems, CRM platforms, accounting software (required to comply with SAT CFDI 4.0 electronic invoicing standards), and payroll systems are governed by formal license agreements complying with Articles 101–114 LFDA. Mexican SAT compliance requirements mean that accounting and invoicing software must meet specific technical standards — the license agreement should address compliance updates and the developer's obligation to provide updates when SAT modifies CFDI specifications.

Open source software (software de código abierto) integrated into commercial products for the Mexican market requires license compliance analysis — GNU GPL, MIT, Apache, and other open source licenses create different obligations when software is distributed in Mexico. A commercial software vendor distributing a product incorporating GPL-licensed components must comply with GPL's copyleft provisions alongside the LFDA framework.

Government procurement contracts (contratos de adquisición) with Mexican federal and state entities are governed by the Ley de Adquisiciones, Arrendamientos y Servicios del Sector Público (LAASSP) — software licenses for government use must be structured to comply with LAASSP procurement rules alongside LFDA copyright provisions.

A Software License Agreement Mexico compliant with LFDA Articles 101–114 must contain the following essential elements to adequately protect the licensor's intellectual property while clearly defining the licensee's permitted use rights:

Identification of Parties and Software: Full legal name, RFC, and domicilio of the licensor (licenciante) and licensee (licenciatario); a precise description of the licensed software including name, version number, and INDAUTOR registration number (if registered); and a description of the software's functionality and the operating environment for which it is designed.

Scope of License — Permitted Use: The specific uses the licensee is authorized to make of the software — whether for internal business operations only (uso interno), for incorporation into the licensee's own products (licencia OEM), for distribution to end users (sublicencia de distribución), or for providing services to the licensee's customers using the software. The number of authorized users, devices, server instances, or processing units must be precisely defined. Permitted installation locations — specific facilities, a defined number of workstations, or cloud deployment environments — must be specified.

Restrictions on Use: Explicit prohibitions on: reverse engineering (ingeniería inversa) beyond the Article 107 LFDA statutory exception; decompilation (descompilación) beyond the Article 111 LFDA interoperability exception; modification (modificación) or creation of derivative works without written authorization; sublicensing (sublicencia) without the licensor's consent; rental or transfer of the software to third parties; circumvention of technological protection measures in violation of Articles 232 Bis through 232 Quater LFDA.

Delivery and Installation: The mechanism for delivering the software — electronic download (descarga electrónica), physical media (medio físico), or cloud access; installation support obligations; and the technical requirements (requisitos técnicos) for the licensee's hardware and operating environment.

License Fee and Payment: The license fee (precio de licencia) — whether a one-time perpetual fee, an annual subscription fee (cuota de suscripción), or usage-based fees (tarifas por uso); payment currency (MXN or foreign currency with SAT exchange rate provisions); payment schedule; and withholding tax obligations for cross-border license fees under LISR Article 167.

Updates, Upgrades, and Support: Whether the license includes the right to receive software updates (actualizaciones) and version upgrades (nuevas versiones); the licensor's technical support (soporte técnico) obligations; service level agreements (acuerdos de nivel de servicio or SLAs) for SaaS deployments; and the duration and scope of support services.

Source Code Protection: Explicit acknowledgment by the licensee that the software's source code (código fuente), algorithms, data structures, and technical documentation constitute trade secrets (secretos industriales) of the licensor protected under Articles 82–84 LFPPI, subject to confidentiality obligations equivalent to those in a non-disclosure agreement (acuerdo de confidencialidad). Source code escrow (depósito en garantía del código fuente) arrangements for mission-critical enterprise software should be addressed.

Warranties and Limitation of Liability: The licensor's limited warranty that the software performs materially as described in the technical documentation; disclaimer of implied warranties under Mexican civil law; and a limitation of liability cap — typically the greater of the license fees paid in the preceding 12 months or a fixed amount in MXN — subject to the mandatory minimum liability provisions of the Ley Federal de Protección al Consumidor (LFPC) when the licensee is a consumer.

Data Protection: Where the software processes personal data (datos personales) of individuals on behalf of the licensee, a data processing clause complying with the LFPDPPP and INAI guidelines confirming the licensor's role as encargado (data processor) and the licensee's role as responsable (data controller). The licensor must implement appropriate security measures under the Norma Mexicana NMX-I-27001-NYCE.

Forms-legal.com provides this Software License Agreement Mexico template as a starting point. Enterprise software licenses, SaaS agreements involving personal data processing, and government procurement software licenses should be reviewed by a Licenciado en Derecho specialised in derecho de autor and propiedad intelectual before execution.