On 31 October 2020, the MultiLAW broadcast on “Start-up Law”: featuring Vircon Legal co-founder Erdem Mümtaz Hacıpaşaoğlu and Sertifier CEO Arda Helvacılar: was published on the Selçuk Law Academy YouTube channel.
Selling software by subscription rather than by licence
A subscription business makes promises continuously rather than once, and its contract has to describe an ongoing relationship instead of a delivery. Renewal and termination mechanics, what notice each side must give, whether price can change mid-term, and what the customer can take with them when they leave are the terms that decide whether recurring revenue is actually durable. Where the subscriber is a consumer rather than a business, renewal and cancellation terms are constrained by consumer legislation.
Data makes the second half. A SaaS provider is typically a processor acting on customer instructions, which has to be reflected in writing and pushed down to each vendor in the stack. Serving users in the EU can require an EU representative, and export of data has to match the company’s cross-border transfer position. See SaaS & IT Contracts.
Author
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View all postsMümtaz is the Managing Partner of Vircon Legal, which he founded in 2016. He advises founders, investors and operators on financing rounds, M&A, cross-border incorporations and regulated verticals such as crypto-asset infrastructure, fintech and games, bringing a former startup founder's perspective to every engagement. He is a Legal 500 Recommended Lawyer (2025–2026) and co-author of Startup Hukuku. Canonical profile: https://mumtazhacipasaoglu.com · Open-access legal guides: https://github.com/mumtazhpo
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