Comments on: Free software defenders file suit against Monsoon Media over Linux

In the first case in the U.S. over alleged General Public License violations, the Software Freedom Law Center sues over copyright infringement.

[Astinsan]

They don't need to give up there code

I thought that they didn't have to give up the code they put in? The OS shouldn't be an issue to distribute.

[megazone]

Yes, they do

If you start with GPL'd code and make any changes or additions, then all of those changes and additions MUST be released back to the community. Period. That's a fundamental principle of the GPL. And the GPL is very 'contagious' so it is hard to mix code and not make all the code fall under GPL.

There are clear lines - for example, you can use a Linux kernel and write your own 'userland' that runs on it. The kernel is GPL, and any changes you make must be released, but your userland can be under whatever license you'd like. And just because you have some GPL software, say an ftp client, doesn't mean other software is sucked into the GPL. But if you make alterations or additions to that FTP client code - that new code must be release. And if you decide you like some of the code and cut and paste it into something completely different - say an SSH client - congratulations, you just made your new client GPL'd code, ALL of it, and you have to release it under the GPL.

If Monsoon did something stupid like mixing GPL'd code with licensed code they're not allowed to release and didn't have the rights to GPL - well, they're in trouble. They couldn't satisfy both licenses, so they'd have to stop shipping and re-write their codebase to de-conflict licenses. Worst case they get forced to spill their source, then get sued by whomever they licensed other code from for violating *that* license.

Basically, it sounds like they screwed up - potentially big time.