Yes, there is a problem [LWN.net]

Yes, there is a problem

Posted Aug 22, 2003 19:05 UTC (Fri) by urulokion (guest, #14350)
In reply to: Yes, there is a problem by cwitty
Parent article: Maybe SCO had a point

"(I don't know if the judge's comment:
> Consequently, I find that Plaintiff has failed to
> demonstrate a likelihood that it can successfully defend its
> copyright in 32V.
is binding in subsequent court cases,..."

After reading a bit more about the judges comment, it's all but binding.

The V32 source code was widely published without a copyright statement. This had the potential for losing copyright protection. But copyright law has a number of tests and legal remedies that could be applied to prevent the lose of copyright. Among then are a test of only being published only in small amounts and/or a closed group, or by registering a copyright within 5 years of the date of first publication.

None of the legal remedies where followed, and all of the legal tests the that applied failed. So if the Juedge were to rule on it he most likely would have rules against the Plantiff.

The judge didn't have to rule on on it because USL and BSD, Inc., et al. reached an out of court settlement.

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