From 51d9367d7bcff85046b3e1c28b28c802353bde6c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Bradley M. Kuhn" Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:00:51 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?Work=20in=20term=20=E2=80=9Cimpact=20litigation?= =?UTF-8?q?=E2=80=9D=20&=20reverse=20chronological?= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Also, add mention of current Vizio case briefly and link to its page. --- .../copyleft-compliance/past-lawsuits.html | 87 +++++++++++-------- 1 file changed, 51 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-) diff --git a/conservancy/content/copyleft-compliance/past-lawsuits.html b/conservancy/content/copyleft-compliance/past-lawsuits.html index 8e14f601..e1e2cc32 100644 --- a/conservancy/content/copyleft-compliance/past-lawsuits.html +++ b/conservancy/content/copyleft-compliance/past-lawsuits.html @@ -3,42 +3,41 @@ {% block submenuselection %}PastLawsuits{% endblock %} {% block content %} -

Previous Copyleft Litigation

+

Impact Litigation for Copyleft

Pursuant to our Principles of - Community-Oriented GPL enforcement, Software Freedom Conservancy sees - litigation as an last resort when other methods to achieve copyleft - compliance fail. Below, we discuss the outcome of past compliance - lawsuits where Conservancy played a role.

+ Community-Oriented GPL enforcement, Software Freedom Conservancy + (SFC) engages in + litigation only as an last resort when other methods to adjudicate users' + rights under copyleft fail. However, when necessary, SFC engages in impact + litigation in lawsuits around the world — both as a Plaintiff + ourselves and by paying the legal fees of other Plaintiffs.

-

Software Freedom Conservancy v. Best Buy, et al

+

Current Copyleft Litigation

-

On 14 December 2009, Software Freedom Conservancy filed a federal copyright -lawsuit against 14 defendants, including Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse, and -JVC. -The docket -of that lawsuit is available (on archive.org) and -the original complaint is on - our website.

+Our current impact litigation against Vizio is ongoing +to establish users' rights under the GPLv2 and LGPLv2.1. Please +do read more about it and donate +to support this work! -

Conservancy settled with each defendant at different times, and the - dismissals can be seen in the docket. Generally speaking, and pursuant to - our Principles of - Community-Oriented GPL enforcement, Conservancy never settles a lawsuit - unless we believe that full compliance has been achieved (or will be - achieved imminently) with the terms of all copyleft licenses - on all software included in the devices at issue in any lawsuit - that we've filed.

+

Past Copyleft Litigation

-

One oft-stated confusion about this litigation was that we sued Best Buy - for sales of third-party devices in their stores. That is not - accurate. Best Buy had a house-brand DVD player under the - “Insignia” “house brand” that they produced as - their own product.

+These past lawsuits are listed in reverse chronological order. -

Christoph Hellwig's VMware Lawsuit

+

Sebastian Steck's AVM Lawsuit

-

Conservancy partially funded and assisted in coordination of Christoph +

This SFC-funded user rights lawsuit was filed by Sebastian Steck in Berlin in 2023 and received a positive final decision from the court in June 2024 with AVM providing "the scripts used to control ... installation of the executable" for the LGPLv2.1 works in the AVM router that Steck purchased. More details are available in our press release and informational page, which provides the source code that was received from AVM allowing users to modify and reinstall copylefted works into the router's flash memory:

+ +

+

+

+ +

Christoph Hellwig's VMware Lawsuit

+ +

SFC partially funded and assisted in coordination of Christoph Hellwig's lawsuit against VMware in Germany. That case concluded in 2019. You can view the relevant announcements and analysis that Conservancy has published about the case below, starting with the announcement regarding @@ -60,15 +59,31 @@ the original complaint is on

-

Sebastian Steck's AVM Lawsuit

+

Software Freedom Conservancy v. Best Buy, et al

-

This SFC-funded user rights lawsuit was filed by Sebastian Steck in Berlin in 2023 and received a positive final decision from the court in June 2024 with AVM providing "the scripts used to control ... installation of the executable" for the LGPLv2.1 works in the AVM router that Steck purchased. More details are available in our press release and informational page, which provides the source code that was received from AVM allowing users to modify and reinstall copylefted works into the router's flash memory:

+

On 14 December 2009, SFC filed a federal copyright +lawsuit against 14 defendants, including Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse, and +JVC. +The docket +of that lawsuit is available (on archive.org) and +the original complaint is on + our website.

+ +

SFC settled with each defendant at different times, and the + dismissals can be seen in the docket — the last occurring in + September 2012. Generally speaking, and pursuant to + our Principles of + Community-Oriented GPL enforcement, Conservancy never settles a lawsuit + unless we believe that full compliance has been achieved (or will be + achieved imminently) with the terms of all copyleft licenses + on all software included in the devices at issue in any lawsuit + that we've filed.

+ +

One oft-stated confusion about this litigation was that we sued Best Buy + for sales of third-party devices in their stores. That is not + accurate. Best Buy had a house-brand DVD player under the + “Insignia” “house brand” that they produced as + their own product.

-

-

-

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