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SCO Website Using Groklaw's Content

darkonc writes "It looks like they didn't learn from the BSD debacle (where, having sued Berkley for copyright infringement, AT&T found that they were using BSD code without acknowledging it's source). Groklaw has an article detailing how SCO has documents created by and for Groklaw on their site -- without even acknowledging the source. It seems that the defenders of the holy IP principle have hoisted the skull and bones."

28 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. Hipocrisy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pot, meet kettle.

  2. Weasels by dolo666 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Corporate Culture
    You can tell a *lot* about a company by it's corporate culture. I remember a post I made a while ago to my weblog, before I did a domain change. It's about PHP Consulting but it really applies to this SCO article because of the no-good-theivery going on at SCO. I think SCO certainly faults on each and every one of the following:

    Answer these questions about each potential customer, or even your managers or coworkers:

    1. Are you stupid?
    2. Are you evil natured?
    3. Are you disorganized?
    4. Are you unsuccessful?
    5. Do you have no budget?
    6. Are you a stinking liar? Weasel?
    7. Are you a know it all?
    8. Are you a control freak?
    9. Do you have mental problems?
    10. Are you superstitious?


    Read on...
    1. Re:Weasels by dbIII · · Score: 4, Interesting
      11. Are you paying huge amounts of the companies money in legal fees to your brother?

      It looks a lot like a scam where SCO is the victim and linux is just being used as a smokescreen while Darl guts the company and lines his pockets with cash.

  3. I have... by EmptyBuffalo · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...SCO printed on my TP and forgot to put the (c) on the logo!!! Are they going to sue me too???

    --
    cat life | grep joy >> memory
  4. Head of Canopy, Noorda's Daughter killed herself by ThoreauHD · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://www.linuxbusinessweek.com/story/48789.htm?D E=1

    Happened last week- old news in internet time. But applicable her because SCO's financial backing literally took a bullet to the head. I think the least of their concerns would be Groklaw's stolen pdf files.

  5. Docs pulled from both groklaw and tuxrocks by wol · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Groklaw notes that SCO was pulling from both groklaw.net and tuxrocks.com. Even accepting that these are legal documents in SCO's own cases, it is amusing that they can't convert their own documents, but have to pull from OSS sites.

    --
    If you think deeply enough, you will have no single direction for your outrage.
  6. So sue them? by WarwickRyan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or doesn't copyright apply to scanned documents and PDFs? It's arguable, as there's as much creative expression there than there is in Britney's latest coaster....

  7. Wow.. by grasshoppa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...they either a) Have some balls. Or b) are dumb as rocks.

    Given their past behavior, I've gotta go with b. For a while, I was expecting ( but certainly not hoping for ) them to pull the rabbit out of their hat and set us all back on our heels. Their claims just seemed too silly not to be justified by *something*.

    Now of course, we've all got a pretty good idea what kind of clowns these really are.

    Still, to steal from groklaw...whew...that's just stunning in my opinion. You gotta respect the lengths these guys will go to.

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    1. Re:Wow.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Still, to steal from groklaw...

      Copyright infringement is not theft. Not when you share music illegally. Not when you distribute GPLed software against its license terms. Not when you copy documents from a website on "our side".

    2. Re:Wow.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And copying public domain court documents isn't copyright infringement.

      Nope. So that's why what Groklaw did is legal.

      What SCO did, however, is copy a specific representation of those court documents that was created by Groklaw. That, on the other hand, is copyright infringement.

      For example, Bach's music is in the public domain. Making your own copies of Bach's music is legal. Copying somebody else's representation of that music is copyright infringement.

  8. Too busy looking over... by SubDude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think SCO must be too buy looking over their mountain of discovery proceeds to add a simple attribution to their legal docs website.

    Too busy, too cheap, too lazy... who knows what their excuse.

    Perhaps it is simply that SCO does not want to give credit where credit is due.

    Subdude

  9. However...they ARE claiming copyright. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    On the site where they are using Groklaw's and Tuxrock's documents. SCO has claimed copyright of the work.

    So not only have they "borrowed" the work of others instead of doing their own (which apparently may be legal as that they are court documents, or may not be legal since the file itself may be copyrighted although the document cannot be etc... etc... ), they are also claiming copyright on the "borrowed" work.

    Regards,
    Z

    1. Re:However...they ARE claiming copyright. by iminplaya · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...they are also claiming copyright on the "borrowed" work.

      Isn't that what they're doing with Linux, also? I expect Growlaw to recieve a take down notice anytime now.

      --
      What?
  10. That's the 2nd "suicide" in 4 months. by khasim · · Score: 5, Interesting

    1 in December.
    1 in March.
    Both people involved in Canopy.

    Nothing strange or unusual about that. No sir.

    1. Re:That's the 2nd "suicide" in 4 months. by Mad_Rain · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, before you break out the actors from your favorite CSI/Law & Order divisions, some researchers notice that suicides tend to cluster together, and are occassionally thought of as "contagious". That is, people who are close (family, friends, and business associates) have an increased risk of suicide when someone near them commits suicide as well.

      So unless you have some other information about those suicides that makes them look less coincidental, perhaps you should allow the dead to rest instead of furthering a tin-foil hat craze. :)

      --
      "What do you think?" "I think 'What, do you think?!'"
  11. Get it while you can by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 5, Funny

    Groklaw better sue SCO for copyright infringement, while there's still any money left.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  12. Plagiarism without Citation by jonathanbearak · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is like doing a research paper in college.

    Let's say I look up some documents on Lexis-Nexus. I have to cite Lexis-Nexis; otherwise it's plagiarism. It doesn't matter where those documents originally came from. My citation must include a reference to Lexis-Nexus saying how I got this information.

    If I don't do this, I've committed plagiarism. I would receive an automatic F and face the possibility of further, much more damaging to myself, ramifications.

    I don't know about how this might play out in the minutae of copyright law, but in academics SCO would be in serious trouble.

  13. Re:Petty by Zocalo · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Yes, they are court documents the *contents* of which are in the public domain, but that's not the point. Many of those documents have been manually transcribed, proof-read and reformatted into HTML or PDF documents by various volunteer members of the FOSS community, on their own time. Many of those documents are also provided for the good of all, free of charge and any form of licensing agreements/restrictions by their transcribers, so SCO probably hasn't actually infringed any laws, civil or otherwise.

    However, for a company currently in court claiming that the fruits of its labours have been misappropriated to turn around and do exactly the same thing... Well, it's hardly in the best taste is it, even if they are so strapped for cash and/or resources that they don't have the ability to transcribe it themselves. Plus, I wouldn't be at all surprised if IBM's legal team finds a way to let the court know about this to show just how two faced SCO can be.

    SCO shoot themselves in the foot. Again. We'll pass on the film at eleven, and proceed with the scheduled reality show re-run...

    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  14. There's No IP Here by Royster · · Score: 4, Informative

    Scanning a document does not give a copyright to the person who performs the scan. SCO has done nothing illegal by grabbing these document.

    We rightfully excoriate MSFT and SCO when they make overreaching IP claims. We should be the last ones to make overreaching claims.

    That said, the one thing which makes SCOX's claims look the worse is their own damn filings. By publishing them themselves, they aren't helping themselves in the public eye.

    --
    I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
    1. Re:There's No IP Here by Ryan+Stortz · · Score: 4, Informative
      A few days ago, I was going through the Project Gutenberg FAQ. I forget why, but it covers a few copyright issues with public domain works:

      C.16. How come my paper book of Shakespeare says it's "Copyright 1988"?
      Shakespeare was published long enough ago to be indisputably in the public domain everywhere, so how can a Shakespeare text be copyrighted?

      There are two possibilities:

      1. The author or publisher has changed or edited the text enough to qualify as a "new edition", which gets a "new copyright".

      2. The publisher has added extra material, such as an introduction, critical essays, footnotes, or an index. This extra material is new, and the publisher owns the copyright on it.

      The problem with these practices is that a publisher, having added this copyrighted material, or edited the text even in a minor way, may simply put a copyright notice on the whole book, even though the main part of it--the text itself--is in the public domain! And as time goes on, the number of original surviving books that can be proved to be in the public domain grows smaller and smaller; and meanwhile publishers are cranking out more and more editions that have copyright notices. Eventually it becomes harder and harder to prove that a particular book is in the public domain, since there are few pre-1923 copies available as evidence.


      C.17. What makes a "new copyright"?
      A special case, that isn't quite a new edition, is when someone "marks up" a public domain text in, for example, HTML. Where this happens, the text is in the public domain, but the markup is copyrighted. We've already seen that when an editor adds footnotes to a public domain text, he owns copyright on the footnotes but not on the text: similarly, when he adds markup to the text, he owns copyright on the markup.
      So, basically the formatting, anything additional added, and the general presentation are all copyrighted. I don't visit Groklaw, but I'm sure they made edits, footnotes, and other changes. If SCO included any of those, they'd be violating copyright.
      --
      Bugs are just features that have been fixed.
  15. Re:Court documents by igrp · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Well, we went over this last night went the story hit Groklaw. To sum it up, from memory:
    • There is handwriting on at least one of the scanned documents. It's questionable whether that means that sufficient additional creative content has been added to the non-protected derivative work.
      Personally, I think it doesn't. Comments might but we're talking about markings here. This is just my personal opinion though. This still doesn't rise beyond mechanical duplication, IMHO.
    • It could be argued that putting together individual filings, and organizing them qualifies as a copyrightable compilation. (For those who are interested, here's a good basic introduction to get you started).
    • This could also be a license violation as Groklaw's articles are covered by the Creative Commons License which requires attribution with republication.

    I think it's questionable whether the PDF files count as a transcript which would be necessary since you would have to have a copyrightable work in the first place.

    If memory serves me correctly, there was also a general consensus that

    a) SCO sucks b) C&D'ing SCO could prove to be a very interesting publicity stunt c) SCO sucks.

  16. Re:Petty by hendersj · · Score: 4, Interesting

    i-ro-ny: 2. a. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" (Richard Kain).

    It is quite ironic that SCO seems to think that only their most holy IP is significant to them. They should clarify that they couldn't give a rat's arse about anyone else's efforts, or they should at least credit people for doing the work they did instead of (perhaps inadvertantly) trying to make it look like they did this themselves.

    --
    Insanity is a gradual process; don't rush it.
  17. Re:Petty by anagama · · Score: 5, Interesting

    • Scanning didn't create a derivative work. Scanning added no actual content. Plus, as legal filings they're arguably public domain in the first place in which case they'd still be public domain after scanning.

    Tell that to Westlaw or Lexis. Both of these companies supply the full text of court decisions, statutes, administrative decesions, etc. etc. All of these are available free at the respective courthouses, gov't offices, libraries where they are stored. Why then would a basic subscription to the state law databases of one state cost around $125 per month? Because the gathering and reformating of this widely dispersed inconveniently printed material has imense value. Westlaw and Lexis do not own the content, but they do own the manner in which it is presented. In a simialr vein, while groklaw doesn't own the content of the documents it has presented, it certainly owns the files it has created.
    --
    What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  18. Case to be made, but missing the point by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The content isn't copyrighted, but the formatting is copyrighted under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0.

    What does that mean, that the formatting is copyrighted? See this thread, on Groklaw. There are also court cases where the contents of a phone directory were considered public information, but their compilation, formatting, etc., were considered copyrighted. (I'm feeling to lazy to look it up at the moment.)

    Still, does this really rise to the level of a Federal Case? Is it worth it to file suit, or even send a C & D letter?

    At any rate, PJ has made it abundantly clear that she has no intention of pursing this legally. She just finds it very funny, as do I. The people crying for litigation are missing the point.

    --
    It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  19. What surprise? by davmoo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is no surprise. SCO has bashed Linux and the GPL for several years now, and all that time have been still attempting to sell their products based on Linux and other GPL software. The left hand slams GPL, while the right hand sings the praises.

    Its just further proof that no one at SCO has any idea what the fuck they are doing. I've said it before, I'll say it again...those who can, innovate, those who can't, litigate. And now we can add that those who can't litigate successfully steal from those who can.

    --
    I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
  20. Not quite complete at SCO by Quila · · Score: 4, Funny

    I noticed their documents relating to Daimler Chrysler aren't complete. They have quite a few, but seem to have left out the later documents showing WHEN THEY LOST.

    This company is just pathetic.

  21. It all looks bad... by localman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But unless Darl and his buddies end up dirt poor, this has all been fun and games. That's the beauty of corporations: they can misbehave all they want, and when they are eventually killed, no real person has to suffer any meaningful consequences.

    To beat the dead horse: this is why corporations shouldn't be treated as equal to humans by the law, because they don't play by the same rules and they don't have the same motivations and limitations. It's unbalanced.

    Cheers.

  22. Get a 'Clue'... by Chordonblue · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Yarro, who will remain on SCO board, according to SCO CEO Darl McBride, was replaced at Canopy by Bill Mustard. Mustard was believed to be taking his instructions from Ms. Kreidel."

    Ah HA! It was Mr. Mustard at Canopy with the Revolver!

    --
    "...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."