Re: linux gpl question
On Fri, Apr 26, 2002 at 01:29:57AM -0500, Lynn Winebarger wrote:
> Actually he can copy all he wants without complying with the GPL.
> It would take a court to actually force him to comply with the license and/or
That's sort of like saying he can kill all he wants to; it would take a
court to actually force him to comply with law. In either case, he is
violating the law.
> He still has some rights to his derivative work, they
> aren't completely held by the original authors, so it would be a mistake
> to treat the derivative work as GPL'ed and copy it before the court forced
> license compliance
Not much of a mistake; unless he made clear that it wasn't GPLed, you
could reasonably claim that you made the assumption that he was acting
legally. Most judges aren't amused with cases where the plaintiff was
acting illegally and not in good faith.
> (assuming it chose to).
A judge that doesn't enforce the clear law - and there would be no legal
question here - is liable to face impeachment pretty quickly. In a case
like this, with few emotional issues or legal questions involved, a
judge is probably going to quickly rule against the copyright violator,
and go on to a serious case. Assuming that the copyright violator was
stupid enough to go that far; all GPL license questions have been
settled out of court, because getting hauled into court is an expensive
risky proposition.
--
David Starner - starner@okstate.edu
"It's not a habit; it's cool; I feel alive.
If you don't have it you're on the other side."
- K's Choice (probably referring to the Internet)
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