[Bf-committers] extension clause

[Campbell Barton]

On Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 12:39 AM, Alex Combas <blenderwell at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 4:19 PM, Dan Eicher <dan at trollwerks.org> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 3:40 PM, Alex Combas <blenderwell at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Well the GPL has never been defended in court from what I've heard...
>>
>>
>> You heard wrong...
>>
>
> Yes, I am. Thanks for pointing that out.
>
> The majority settle out of court, but there have been a few full
> scale lawsuits where the GPL was defended and won.
>
> So...
>
> Would these lawsuits make companies less paranoid about incorporating GPL
> software, or more.

Worth listening to this interview with Bradley M. Kuhn & Aaron
Williamson (a real lawyer!) who work to enforce GPL:
  http://linuxoutlaws.com/podcast/127,  exactly 1hr, into the show.

>From this interview I gather most don't go to court because the
companies comply once they know they are infringing the GPL.

And regarding this making companies paranoid - this is conjecture, But
if some group choose to be ignorant & paranoid then this is their own
foolishness.
One could also be paranoid about commercial software because you can
get in trouble for breaking their license too.