Open source licenses work (say the courts)
Thursday was the first time an open source license was upheld as a valid license in US courts. People are excited!
In Jacobsen v Katzer the courts ruled that the artistic license is a valid license that can be upheld under copyright law. (Note that the district courts had earlier said that the artistic license was a contract, not a license, so the problem was a contract violation not a copyright infringement.) So a lot of people were watching this case, including quite a few attorneys. For more details and a sense of what a victory this is, you can read what they wrote or just admire the number of people who have weighed in on this issue!
- Larry Lessig: huge and important news: free licenses upheld
- Mark Radcliffe: Major Victory for Open Source in Jacobsen Decision
- Mike Gunderloy: A Win for Open Source Licensing
- Rowan Wilson: Covenants or Conditions? Federal Circuit Clarifies Important FOSS Licensing Question
- Roberto Galoppini: Open Source Licensing: Copyright law protects Open Source, BSA does not
- Matt Asay: Federal court hands open-source licenses a significant victory
- Glyn Moody: Basis of Free Software Licences Upheld in US
- Jay Lyman: U.S. court confirms open source license legitimacy
- Savio Rodrigues: Court rules that open source software is protected under copyright law
- Jeremy Kirk and Elizabeth Montalbano: Open source advocates hail appeals court ruling
- Dana Blankenhorn: Open source licenses are valid
And Jason Haislmaier has a good summary of the case and what it means in The Decision All Of Open Source Has Been Waiting For.
