Autodesk 2015 Annual Report Download - page 104

2015 Form 10-K 12
We believe that because of the limitations of laws protecting our intellectual property and the rapid, ongoing
technological changes in both the computer hardware and software industries, we must rely principally upon software
engineering and marketing skills to continually maintain and enhance our competitive market position.
While we have recovered some revenue resulting from the unauthorized use of our software products, we are unable to
measure the full extent to which piracy of our software products exists. We believe, however, that software piracy is and can be
expected to be a persistent problem that negatively impacts our revenue and financial results. We believe that our transition
from perpetual use software licenses to a subscription-based business model combined with the change from desktop to cloud-
based computing will shift the incentives and means by which software is pirated.
In addition, through various licensing arrangements, we receive certain rights to intellectual property of others. We expect
to maintain current licensing arrangements and to secure licensing arrangements in the future, as needed and to the extent
available on reasonable terms and conditions, to support continued development and sales of our products and services. Some
of these licensing arrangements require or may require royalty payments and other licensing fees. The amount of these
payments and fees may depend on various factors, including but not limited to: the structure of royalty payments, offsetting
considerations, if any, and the degree of use of the licensed technology.
See Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” for further discussion of risks related to protecting our intellectual property.
PRODUCTION AND SUPPLIERS
The production of our PSEB, AEC, MFG, and certain M&E software products involves duplication of the software
media. The purchase of media and the transfer of the software programs onto media for distribution to customers are performed
by us and by licensed subcontractors. Media for our products such as DVDs and USB flash drives are available from multiple
sources. For certain products and countries, we offer customers an electronic software download option for both initial product
fulfillment as well as product updates for maintenance subscribers. Customers who choose electronic fulfillment receive the
latest version of the software from our vendor’s secure servers. For certain cloud-based products, we use a combination of co-
located hosting facilities as well as infrastructure-as-a-service providers like Amazon Web Services. Packaging materials are
produced to our specifications by outside sources. Production is performed in leased facilities operated by independent third-
party contractors. To date, we have not experienced any material difficulties or delays in the production of our software and
documentation.
EMPLOYEES
As of January 31, 2015, we employed approximately 8,823 people. None of our employees in the United States are
represented by a labor union. In certain foreign countries, our employees are represented by work councils. We have never
experienced any work stoppages and believe our employee relations are good. Reliance upon employees in other countries
entails various risks and changes in these foreign countries, such as government instability or regulation unfavorable to foreign-
owned businesses, which could negatively impact our business in the future.
2015 Annual Report