CONTINGENCIES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

11. CONTINGENCIES

The Company receives inquiries from time to time claiming possible patent infringement by the Company. If any infringement is determined to exist, the Company may seek licenses or settlements. In addition, as a normal incidence of the nature of the Company's business, various claims, charges and litigation have been asserted or commenced from time to time against the Company arising from or related to contractual or employee relations, intellectual property rights or product performance. Settlements related to any such claims are generally included in the "general and administrative expenses" caption in the Company's consolidated statements of operations. Management is not aware of any current claims that will have a material adverse effect on the financial position or results of operations of the Company.

Opengate SpA ("Opengate"), an entity in liquidation represented by the Trustee in Bankruptcy, Dr. Marco Fiorentini, brought a claim against the Company's subsidiary, Pinnacle Systems GmbH ("Pinnacle GmbH"), in the Varese, Italy Tribunal on July 21, 2009. The Trustee in Bankruptcy sought to recover EURO 2,700,000 in payments made by Opengate to Pinnacle GmbH between 2002 and 2003, the year prior to Opengate being placed into administration. In June 2011, the Company and Opengate agreed to settle the claim, and an immaterial settlement amount was accrued by the Company as a loss contingency. The Company expects that the settlement will be finalized and the settlement amount will be paid to Opengate during the third quarter of 2011.

The Company's Canadian subsidiary, Avid Technology Canada Corporation, was assessed and paid to the Ministry of Revenue Quebec ("MRQ") approximately CAN$1.7 million for social tax assessments on Canadian employee stock-based compensation related to the Company's stock plans. The Company is currently attempting to recover the payments against these assessments through litigation with the MRQ. The payment amounts were recorded in "other current assets" in the Company's consolidated balance sheets at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010. Because the Company cannot predict the outcome of the litigation at this time or the amount of potential losses, if any, no costs have been accrued for any loss contingency; however, this matter is not expected to have a material effect on the Company's financial position or results of operations.

From time to time, the Company provides indemnification provisions in agreements with customers covering potential claims by third parties of intellectual property infringement. These agreements generally provide that the Company will indemnify customers for losses incurred in connection with an infringement claim brought by a third party with respect to the Company's products. These indemnification provisions generally offer perpetual coverage for infringement claims based upon the products covered by the agreement. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification provisions is theoretically unlimited; however, to date, the Company has not incurred material costs related to these indemnification provisions. As a result, the Company believes the estimated fair value of these indemnification provisions is minimal.

As permitted under Delaware law and pursuant to the Company's Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, the Company is obligated to indemnify its current and former officers and directors for certain events that occur or occurred while the officer or director is or was serving in such capacity. The term of the indemnification period is for each respective officer's or director's lifetime. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification obligations is unlimited; however, the Company has mitigated the exposure through the purchase of directors and officers insurance, which is intended to limit the risk and, in most cases, enable the Company to recover all or a portion of any future amounts paid. As a result of this insurance coverage, the Company believes the estimated fair value of these indemnification obligations is minimal.

The Company has three letters of credit at a bank that are used as security deposits in connection with the Company's Burlington, Massachusetts office space. In the event of default on the underlying leases, the landlords at June 30, 2011 would have been eligible to draw against the letters of credit up to a maximum of $2.6 million in the aggregate. The letters of credit are subject to aggregate reductions of approximately $0.4 million at the end of each of the second, third and fifth lease years, provided the Company is not in default of the underlying leases and meets certain financial performance conditions. In no case will the letters of credit amounts be reduced to below $1.3 million in the aggregate throughout the lease periods, all of which extend to May 2020. At June 30, 2011, the Company was not in default of any of the underlying leases.

The Company also has a standby letter of credit at a bank that is used as a security deposit in connection with the Company's Daly City, California office space lease. In the event of default on this lease, the landlord would be eligible to draw against this letter of credit up to a maximum of $0.8 million. The letter of credit will remain in effect at this amount throughout the remaining lease period, which extends to September 2014. At June 30, 2011, the Company was not in default of this lease.

The Company has in the past, through third parties, provided lease financing options to its customers, including end users and, on a limited basis, resellers. This program was terminated by mutual agreement among the parties in the fourth quarter of 2008; however, balances outstanding as of the termination date continue to be collected by the third-party lessors as they become due. During the terms of these leases, which are generally three years, and until all remaining outstanding balances are collected, the Company may remain liable for any unpaid principal balance upon default by the customer, but such liability is limited in the aggregate based on a percentage of initial amounts funded or, in certain cases, amounts of unpaid balances. At June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the Company's maximum recourse exposure totaled approximately $0.7 million and $1.0 million, respectively. The Company recorded revenues from these transactions upon the shipment of products, provided that all other revenue recognition criteria, including collectibility being reasonably assured, were met. The Company maintains a reserve for estimated losses under this program based on historical default rates applied to the amount outstanding at period end. At June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the Company's accruals for estimated losses were $0.2 million and $0.5 million, respectively.

The Company provides warranties on externally sourced and internally developed hardware. For internally developed hardware and in cases where the warranty granted to customers for externally sourced hardware is greater than that provided by the manufacturer, the Company records an accrual for the related liability based on historical trends and actual material and labor costs. The warranty period for all of the Company's products is generally 90 days to one year, but can extend up to five years depending on the manufacturer's warranty or local law.

The following table sets forth activity for the Company's product warranty accrual as recorded in "accrued expenses and other current liabilities" for the six-month periods ended June 30, 2011 and 2010 (in thousands):

	Six Months Ended June 30,
	2011			2010
Accrual balance at beginning of period	$	4,492		$	4,454
Accruals for product warranties		3,193			2,590
Cost of warranty claims		(2,977	)		(2,599	)
Accrual balance at end of period	$	4,708		$	4,445