diff --git a/.github/workflows/prs_and_commits.yml b/.github/workflows/prs_and_commits.yml
index 8c04c32e..a0afee1b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/prs_and_commits.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/prs_and_commits.yml
@@ -49,15 +49,6 @@ jobs:
           distribution: 'adopt'
           java-version: 17
           cache: maven
-      - name: License header check
-        run: |
-          mvn -ntp license:remove license:format
-          if [[ -n $(git status -s) ]]; then
-            echo 1>&2 'Some files do not have the correct license header:'
-            git diff --name-only 1>&2
-            echo 1>&2 'Please update the license headers for these files by running `mvn license:remove license:format`'
-            exit 1
-          fi
       - name: Build (Maven)
         run: mvn -ntp -P ci --batch-mode clean package -DskipTests
       - name: Unit tests (Maven)
diff --git a/big-query-rat-config.xml b/big-query-rat-config.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..efe7f51b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/big-query-rat-config.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<rat-config>
+    <families>
+        <family id="AvnBQ" name="Aiven BigQuery License" />
+    </families>
+    <licenses>
+        <license family="AvnBQ" id="AvnBQ" name ="Aiven BigQuery License" >
+            <all>
+                <copyright owner="Aiven Oy and bigquery-connector-for-apache-kafka project contributors" />
+                <text>
+                    This software contains code derived from the Confluent BigQuery
+                    Kafka Connector, Copyright Confluent, Inc, which in turn
+                    contains code derived from the WePay BigQuery Kafka Connector,
+                    Copyright WePay, Inc.
+
+                    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+                    you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+                    You may obtain a copy of the License at
+                </text>
+                <any>
+                    <text>http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0</text>
+                    <text>https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0</text>
+                </any>
+                <text>
+                    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+                    software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+                    "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+                    KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+                    specific language governing permissions and limitations
+                    under the License.
+                </text>
+            </all>
+        </license>
+    </licenses>
+    <approved>
+        <family license_ref='AvnBQ' />
+    </approved>
+</rat-config>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kcbq-connector/src/test/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/BigQuerySinkTaskTest.java b/kcbq-connector/src/test/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/BigQuerySinkTaskTest.java
index a70c72a2..1204a0b3 100644
--- a/kcbq-connector/src/test/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/BigQuerySinkTaskTest.java
+++ b/kcbq-connector/src/test/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/BigQuerySinkTaskTest.java
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@
 import com.wepay.kafka.connect.bigquery.write.storage.StorageWriteApiBase;
 import com.wepay.kafka.connect.bigquery.write.storage.StorageWriteApiDefaultStream;
 import java.net.SocketTimeoutException;
-import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Map;
diff --git a/kcbq-connector/src/test/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/integration/BaseConnectorIT.java b/kcbq-connector/src/test/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/integration/BaseConnectorIT.java
index 7144a4b9..70bddc51 100644
--- a/kcbq-connector/src/test/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/integration/BaseConnectorIT.java
+++ b/kcbq-connector/src/test/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/integration/BaseConnectorIT.java
@@ -172,11 +172,16 @@ protected Map<String, String> baseConnectorProps(int tasksMax) {
   }
 
   protected BigQuery newBigQuery() {
-    return new GcpClientBuilder.BigQueryBuilder()
-        .withKey(keyFile())
-        .withKeySource(GcpClientBuilder.KeySource.valueOf(keySource()))
-        .withProject(project())
-        .build();
+    try {
+      return new GcpClientBuilder.BigQueryBuilder()
+              .withKey(keyFile())
+              .withKeySource(GcpClientBuilder.KeySource.valueOf(keySource()))
+              .withProject(project())
+              .build();
+    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+      LoggerFactory.getLogger(BaseConnectorIT.class).error("query error", e);
+      throw e;
+    }
   }
 
   protected void waitForCommittedRecords(
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e28fa6e6..c5fa28bd 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@
             <name>Veli Can Ünal</name>
             <email>vlcanunal@gmail.com</email>
             <timezone>Europe/Berlin</timezone>
-        </contributor>        
+        </contributor>
     </contributors>
 
     <repositories>
@@ -328,9 +328,19 @@
                 <version>3.3.1</version>
                 <type>maven-plugin</type>
             </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
+                <artifactId>apache-rat-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>0.17</version>
+            </dependency>
         </dependencies>
     </dependencyManagement>
     <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
+            <artifactId>apache-rat-plugin</artifactId>
+            <version>0.17</version>
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
             <artifactId>google-cloud-bigquerystorage</artifactId>
@@ -348,47 +358,28 @@
     <build>
         <plugins>
             <plugin>
-                <groupId>com.mycila</groupId>
-                <artifactId>license-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0</version>
+                <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
+                <artifactId>apache-rat-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>0.17</version>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>rat-checks</id>
+                        <phase>validate</phase>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>check</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
                 <configuration>
-                    <inlineHeader>
-Copyright 2024 Copyright 2022 Aiven Oy and
-bigquery-connector-for-apache-kafka project contributors
-
-This software contains code derived from the Confluent BigQuery
-Kafka Connector, Copyright Confluent, Inc, which in turn
-contains code derived from the WePay BigQuery Kafka Connector,
-Copyright WePay, Inc.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
-software distributed under the License is distributed on an
-"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
-KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
-specific language governing permissions and limitations
-under the License.
-                    </inlineHeader>
-                    <headerDefinitions>
-                        <headerDefinition>${main.dir}/config/copyright/custom-header-styles.xml</headerDefinition>
-                    </headerDefinitions>
-                    <mapping>
-                        <java>CUSTOM_JAVA_STYLE</java>
-                        <Jenkinsfile>JENKINSFILE_STYLE</Jenkinsfile>
-                    </mapping>
-                    <excludes>
-                        <exclude>**/*.vm</exclude>
-                        <exclude>**/*.properties</exclude>
-                        <exclude>LICENSE.md</exclude>
-                        <exclude>*.log</exclude>
-                        <exclude>config/checkstyle/google_checks.xml</exclude>
-                        <exclude>**/VersionInfo.java</exclude>
-                    </excludes>
+                    <excludeSubProjects>false</excludeSubProjects>
+                    <!-- <configurationNoDefaults>true</configurationNoDefaults> -->
+                    <config>big-query-rat-config.xml</config>
+                    <inputExclude>**/*.vm</inputExclude>
+                        <inputExclude>**/*.properties</inputExclude>
+                        <inputExclude>LICENSE.md</inputExclude>
+                        <inputExclude>README.md</inputExclude>
+                        <inputExclude>/docs/**</inputExclude>
+                        <inputExclude>**/META-INF/services/**</inputExclude>
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
             <plugin>