&gt; <i>Show me the contract I signed that created that situation [that is, getting a license to use the software].</i><p>(IP lawyer here.)  First, there doesn&#x27;t need to be a contract; second, even if a contract is required, it&#x27;s quite easy for a supplier to get a customer to form one without getting a wet-ink signature from the customer.<p>Fundamentally, an IP &quot;license&quot; is simply this:  You want to take Action A.  Licensor has the legal right to prevent you from taking Action A, e.g., under the copyright laws.  Licensor announces (to you specifically or to the world) that Licensor will not invoke that legal right against you, <i>as long as your taking of Action A is limited to Circumstances C.</i>  You are now licensed.  (That&#x27;s how the GPL putatively works -- it&#x27;s a bare copyright license, not a contract [1].)<p>If a contract <i>is</i> required, one can be formed in a variety of ways, including an offer that is accepted by performance (known as a &quot;unilateral contract&quot;) [2]. So-called browse-wrap agreements fall into this general category [3].<p>&gt; <i>(difficulty: a post-purchase EULA or inside-the-shrinkwrap document is not a contract)</i><p>That&#x27;s not a universally-held view in the courts [4].<p>[1] See, e.g., <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;GNU_General_Public_License#License_versus_contract" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;GNU_General_Public_License#Lic...</a> and <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.law.washington.edu&#x2F;lta&#x2F;swp&#x2F;law&#x2F;contractvlicense.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.law.washington.edu&#x2F;lta&#x2F;swp&#x2F;law&#x2F;contractvlicense....</a> and <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;scholarship.law.duke.edu&#x2F;cgi&#x2F;viewcontent.cgi?article=2505&amp;context=faculty_scholarship" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;scholarship.law.duke.edu&#x2F;cgi&#x2F;viewcontent.cgi?article=...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.rocketlawyer.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;whats-the-difference-between-bilateral-and-unilateral-contracts.rl" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.rocketlawyer.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;whats-the-difference-be...</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Browse_wrap" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Browse_wrap</a><p>[4] See <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.lawnix.com&#x2F;cases&#x2F;hill-gateway.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.lawnix.com&#x2F;cases&#x2F;hill-gateway.html</a> -- I have some problems with the reasoning and outcome of this case, but it&#x27;s still out there.