Source Code Escrow Agreement (Arizona)

Source Code Escrow Agreement

Effective date: [__/__/____]

Agreement number: [________________________________]

1. Parties

Licensor

Legal name: [________________________________]

Organization and jurisdiction: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

Operational contact: [________________________________]

Notice contact: [________________________________]

Beneficiary

Legal name: [________________________________]

Organization and jurisdiction: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

Operational contact: [________________________________]

Notice contact: [________________________________]

Escrow Agent

Legal name: [________________________________]

Organization and jurisdiction: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

Operational contact: [________________________________]

Notice contact: [________________________________]

Licensor, Beneficiary, and Escrow Agent are each a “Party” and together the “Parties.”

2. Underlying Transaction

Underlying agreement: [________________________________]

Effective date and version: [________________________________]

Product or service: [________________________________]

Beneficiary's licensed or access rights:

[____________________________________________________________]

Services whose interruption creates the continuity concern:

[____________________________________________________________]

Order of precedence:

No provision of this Agreement expands the Beneficiary's Product-use rights unless Schedule E expressly identifies the expansion and all affected Parties approve it.

3. Product and Continuity Classification

The Parties must complete this section before the first deposit.

Product delivery model:

☐ On-premises software

☐ Hosted or SaaS service

☐ Mobile or distributed application

☐ Embedded or device software

☐ Mixed software, hardware, and services

☐ Other: [________________________________]

Continuity objective:

☐ Rebuild and deploy the Product

☐ Maintain an existing deployment

☐ Migrate data and configurations

☐ Operate a temporary replacement environment

☐ Support an orderly transition to another provider

☐ Other: [________________________________]

Target recovery capability: [________________________________]

Target recovery time: [________________________________]

Target recovery point: [________________________________]

Known technical or legal constraint:

[____________________________________________________________]

4. Deposit Materials

Licensor will deposit the items selected and described in Schedule B.

☐ Human-readable source code and version history

☐ Build scripts, package manifests, and dependency locks

☐ Compiler, interpreter, runtime, and tool versions

☐ Container, infrastructure-as-code, and deployment files

☐ Database schemas, migrations, and permitted seed data

☐ Architecture, API, administration, and operations documentation

☐ Test plans, test fixtures, and expected results

☐ Configuration templates and environment-variable map

☐ Third-party component and license inventory

☐ Hardware, device, firmware, or manufacturing information

☐ Key, certificate, credential, or secret-recovery procedure

☐ Data export, migration, and restoration procedure

☐ Support runbooks and known-issues register

☐ Other: [________________________________]

Excluded materials:

[____________________________________________________________]

Reason for each exclusion and continuity workaround:

[____________________________________________________________]

5. Initial Deposit and Updates

Initial deposit due: [__/__/____]

Approved transfer method: [________________________________]

Encryption and key-exchange method: [________________________________]

Update triggers:

☐ Each production release

☐ Each major release

☐ Monthly

☐ Quarterly

☐ After a material dependency or architecture change

☐ Other: [________________________________]

Update due after trigger: [____] business days

Each delivery must include the inventory version, change log, cryptographic hashes, dependency changes, build instructions, and the Licensor contact responsible for questions.

6. Escrow Agent Intake

Within [____] business days after receipt, Escrow Agent will:

☐ Confirm readable media or transfer completion.

☐ Compare delivered items to Schedule B.

☐ Record file counts, sizes, dates, and hashes.

☐ Confirm malware-scanning treatment.

☐ Record encryption and key-custody status.

☐ Identify missing, corrupt, unreadable, or unexplained items.

☐ Send an intake report to the Parties.

An intake report confirms only the checks selected above. It does not establish that the Product can be built, deployed, operated, maintained, or lawfully used unless the selected verification procedure tests that result.

7. Verification

Selected Level

☐ Inventory review: compare the deposit to Schedule B.

☐ Readability review: open and inspect representative files.

☐ Build review: attempt a clean build in the documented environment.

☐ Deployment review: deploy to an agreed isolated environment.

☐ Continuity exercise: perform the selected recovery, migration, or transition scenario.

☐ Custom procedure: [________________________________]

Verification Record

Frequency: [________________________________]

Test environment: [________________________________]

Inputs supplied by each Party: [________________________________]

Acceptance criteria: [________________________________]

Report recipients: [________________________________]

Deficiency cure period: [____] business days

Reverification responsibility and cost: [________________________________]

Verification results are confidential and do not amend the Underlying Agreement or waive a deficiency unless the affected Parties sign a written amendment.

8. Storage and Security

Escrow Agent will apply the controls selected in Schedule C, including:

☐ Encryption in transit and at rest

☐ Separate key custody

☐ Access logging and periodic review

☐ Multi-factor authentication

☐ Geographic redundancy

☐ Integrity checking

☐ Environmental and physical safeguards

☐ Personnel access restrictions

☐ Secure destruction procedure

Storage locations or approved regions: [________________________________]

Subprocessors or storage providers: [________________________________]

Contractual incident-notice period: [________________________________]

Incident recipients and method: [________________________________]

The Parties will not place live credentials, production personal data, regulated data, export-controlled material, or third-party material in escrow unless Schedule D identifies the material and states the approved handling procedure.

9. Release Conditions

Only the conditions selected and defined in Schedule E may support a Release Request.

☐ Licensor permanently stops the contracted Product support.

☐ Licensor fails to cure a defined material support breach.

☐ Licensor discontinues the Product or relevant service.

☐ Licensor ceases ordinary business operations affecting the Product.

☐ A specified insolvency-related event occurs and counsel confirms that the requested process may proceed.

☐ A defined key-person, acquisition, control, or transition event occurs.

☐ The Parties jointly authorize release.

☐ Other: [________________________________]

For each selected condition, Schedule E must state the objective evidence, cure or waiting period, permitted scope of release, and any condition that does not qualify.

10. Release Request and Objection

Request

Beneficiary's Release Request must identify:

• the selected Release Condition;
• the facts and documents supporting it;
• the materials requested;
• the requested delivery method and recipients;
• the intended continuity use; and
• the counsel or decision-maker approving the request.

Notice and Response

Escrow Agent will send the request to Licensor through the notice method in Section 19. Licensor may respond within [____] business days after confirmed receipt.

☐ No objection received: Escrow Agent follows the unopposed procedure in Schedule E.

☐ Objection received: Escrow Agent preserves the deposit and follows the selected dispute procedure without deciding disputed legal or technical facts unless the Parties expressly appointed it to do so.

Emergency Procedure

Any shorter procedure must be separately described in Schedule E, including the evidence standard, notice method, neutral decision-maker, security, costs, and reversible safeguards.

11. Post-Release Rights and Handoff

Schedule E must state the rights that apply after release and align them with the Underlying Agreement and third-party licenses.

Authorized users: [________________________________]

Permitted purposes: [________________________________]

Permitted environments: [________________________________]

Modification rights: [________________________________]

Contractor access: [________________________________]

Transfer or assignment limits: [________________________________]

Duration and end condition: [________________________________]

Return or destruction obligation: [________________________________]

Ongoing payment, attribution, reporting, or audit obligation: [________________________________]

Release does not create rights in a third-party component, hosted dependency, data set, credential, patent, trademark, or other asset that Licensor lacked authority to provide.

12. Third-Party and Hosted Dependencies

Schedule B will list every material third-party or hosted dependency and classify it as:

Licensor will update this register when a material dependency, license, account, or provider changes.

13. Data and Regulatory Matrix

The Parties will complete Schedule D before depositing or releasing any data or data-access material.

No Party may infer a legal classification or notification deadline from this Agreement. The completed matrix and current counsel-approved procedure control.

14. Confidentiality

Each receiving Party will use Confidential Information only for this Agreement and the permitted continuity purpose, protect it using the selected safeguards, and disclose it only to personnel and contractors who need access and are bound by suitable obligations.

The confidentiality schedule will address:

• information already known or independently developed;
• information received lawfully from another source;
• public information;
• compelled disclosure and notice;
• residual knowledge, if permitted;
• return, deletion, archival, and legal-hold treatment; and
• duration after termination.

15. Factual Commitments

Licensor

Licensor commits that each deposit will materially match its inventory and that Licensor will identify known missing items, restrictions, unsupported dependencies, and build limitations.

Escrow Agent

Escrow Agent commits to perform only the intake, storage, verification, notice, and release functions selected in this Agreement and the Schedules.

Beneficiary

Beneficiary commits to request and use released materials only for the purposes and within the limits stated in Schedule E.

Additional negotiated commitment: [________________________________]

16. Risk Allocation Schedule

No default indemnity, liability cap, consequential-damage exclusion, warranty disclaimer, fee shift, injunction term, jury provision, or arbitration term is created by this section. Counsel must complete Schedule F for the actual transaction.

17. Fees

Setup fee: $[________________________________]

Recurring fee: $[________________________________]

Update and storage fees: [________________________________]

Verification fees: [________________________________]

Release-request and dispute fees: [________________________________]

Taxes and expenses: [________________________________]

Invoice and payment terms: [________________________________]

Late-payment treatment approved by counsel: [________________________________]

Failure to pay affects escrow services only as expressly stated in Schedule A, including any notice, cure, suspension, deposit-preservation, and termination steps.

18. Term and Transition

Initial term: [________________________________]

Renewal: [________________________________]

Termination events: [________________________________]

Notice and cure: [________________________________]

Before termination or transfer, Escrow Agent will follow the selected procedure for final update, fee reconciliation, transfer to a successor agent, continued preservation, return, or destruction.

No deposit will be destroyed while a timely Release Request, objection, legal hold, or transfer process identified in this Agreement remains unresolved.

19. Notices

Permitted methods and effectiveness rules: [________________________________]

Operational tickets, automated alerts, and ordinary project communications are not formal notices unless this section expressly says otherwise.

20. Governing Terms and Disputes

Chosen governing law: Arizona, subject to counsel's conflict-of-laws and transaction review.

Chosen forum or dispute process: [________________________________]

Escalation contacts and periods: [________________________________]

Interim deposit-preservation procedure: [________________________________]

Arbitration, jury, fee, provisional-relief, and enforcement terms, if any: See counsel-approved Schedule F.

21. General Terms

Assignment and change of control: [________________________________]

Subcontracting by Escrow Agent: [________________________________]

Audit and records: [________________________________]

Amendments and waivers: [________________________________]

Severability treatment: [________________________________]

Counterparts and approved signature method: [________________________________]

Entire agreement and incorporated schedules: [________________________________]

22. Signatures

Licensor

By: __________________________________________

Name and title: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

Beneficiary

By: __________________________________________

Name and title: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

Escrow Agent

By: __________________________________________

Name and title: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

Schedules

• Schedule A — Fees, Invoicing, Suspension, and Termination
• Schedule B — Product, Deposit, Dependency, and Update Inventory
• Schedule C — Storage, Access, Verification, and Security Controls
• Schedule D — Data, Credentials, Regulatory, Retention, and Incident Matrix
• Schedule E — Release Conditions, Evidence, Objection, and Post-Release Rights
• Schedule F — Legal Classification, Insolvency, IP, Remedies, Risk Allocation, and Disputes

Schedule Approval Record