Open Source Software Licensing Train Wreck Averted
by Colin Dodd
From the Red Hat Press Blog.
Red Hat News | Software Licensing Train Wreck Averted
Court decisions on free and open source software licensing are unusual, and for lawyers who represent open source companies and projects, somewhat anxiety producing. Fortunately, lawsuits over such licenses are rare, because the licenses are effectively enforced informally to the extent necessary by the free and open source community and disputes are generally resolved informally. This is a positive thing; lawsuits are unbelievably wasteful in terms both of money and spirit. But as a consequence, there are few court decisions to serve as legal precedents.
This creates some uncertainties when a case gets to court. Free and open source software is still a relatively new paradigm. A court coming to the area for the first time may not immediately comprehend this paradigm, and in deciding a given case may draw on analogies to older legal rules that do not fit well. That court may just get things wrong. The effect of a single wrong decision is likely to be magnified, because a later court will be more likely to rely on that decision when it is one of few.
