SCO forced to put SCO UNIX under GPL?

Posted Jun 11, 2003 17:27 UTC (Wed) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330)
In reply to: SCO forced to put SCO UNIX under GPL? by corbet
Parent article: SCO might recycle ATT's Unix blunder (Inquirer)

You're right that the GPL copyright holder can't force the release of the proprietary code, but in addition to getting the product withdrawn, damage awards are a possibility: the GPL text itself is not the whole of the law.

Another misunderstanding in the article is that anyone can file a small-claims action. Only the copyright holder has standing to sue.

SCO forced to put SCO UNIX under GPL?

Posted Jun 11, 2003 19:43 UTC (Wed) by torsten (guest, #4137) [Link]

Another misunderstanding in the article is that anyone can file a small-claims action. Only the copyright holder has standing to sue.

This is misleading. Filing small-claims action and suing are the same thing - they are both civil suits. In America, anyone can file a civil suit, for any reason, at any time, against anyone, even without merit.

Winning a suit is another thing. You are correct in implying that only a copyright holder has a chance of winning.

IANAL.