Linux Devicemaker Sued In First US Test of GPL

An anonymous reader writes "For the first time in the U.S., a company is being taken to court for a GPL violation. The Software Freedom Law Center has sued Monsoon Multimedia over alleged GPL violations in the Hava, a place- and time-shifting TV recorder similar to the SlingBox. Interestingly, Monsoon Multimedia is run by a highly experienced international lawyer named Graham Radstone. According to his corporate biography, Radstone has an MA in Law from the University of Cambridge, England, and held the top legal spot at an unnamed "$1 billion private multinational company." He also reportedly held top management positions with Philip Morris, Pfizer, and DHL. Sounds like the makings of a good old legal Donnybrook ahead."

Comments

Re:What's the big deal?

[Sparr0]

Some [misguided] courts have held that because the GPL makes some "offers", the author gives up their rights to pursue copyright violations and is restricted to only pursuing the issue as a matter of contract breach. This has at least SOME logical basis, illustrated by this quite-oversimplified semantic example:

I say {you can distribute my code} under the terms of the GPL.
I say you can {distribute my code under the terms of the GPL}.

In the former case, you have permission to distribute my code, but have violated our contract if you do so outside the terms of the GPL. In the latter case, you ONLY have permission to distribute my code if you do so under the terms of the GPL, and have violated my copyright if you do so without that conditional permission. Any sensible judge will understand that the latter is the only viable way to handle the issue, but we have some quite nonsensible judges on benches in various places these days.

Re:What's the big deal?

[mark-t]

The GPL is legal agreement between two parties

Even if this were correct, it is superfluous. GPL'd works are copyrighted, and may not be copied without permission from the copyright holder. The GPL says that one must agree to its terms to get permission, so without it there is no permission unless otherwise arranged with the copyright holder. Whether the GPL itself has never been tested in court is also irrelevant because copying any copyrighted work still requires permission from the copyright holder.