website/www/conservancy/static/copyleft-compliance/past-lawsuits.html

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{% block subtitle %}Copyleft Compliance Projects - {% endblock %}
{% block submenuselection %}PastLawsuits{% endblock %}
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<h2 id="vmware">Conservancy v. Best Buy, et al</h2>
<p>On 14 December 2009, Software Freedom Conservancy filed a federal copyright
lawsuit against 14 defendants, including Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse, and
JVC.
The <a href="https://ia600207.us.archive.org/21/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.355978/gov.uscourts.nysd.355978.docket.html">docket
of that lawsuit is available (on archive.org)</a> and
the <a href="/docs/busybox-complaint-2009-12-14.pdf">original complaint is on
our website</a>.</p>
<p>Conservancy settled with each defendant at different times, and the
dismissals can be seen in the docket. Generally speaking, and pursuant to
our <a href="/copyleft-compliance/principles.html">Principles of
Community-Oriented GPL enforcement</a>, Conservancy never settles a lawsuit
unless we believe that full compliance has been achieved (or will be
achieved imminently) with the terms of <em>all</em> copyleft licenses
on <em>all</em> software included in the devices at issue in any lawsuit
that we've filed.</p>
<p>One oft-stated confusion about this litigation was that we sued Best Buy
for sales of third-party devices in their stores. <strong>That is not
accurate</strong>. Best Buy had a house-brand DVD player under the
&ldquo;Insignia&rdquo; &ldquo;house brand&rdquo; that they produced as
their own product.</p>
<h2 id="vmware">Christoph Hellwig's VMware Lawsuit</h2>
<p>Conservancy 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
the conclusion of the case:</p>
<p>
<ul>
<li><a href="/news/2019/apr/02/vmware-no-appeal/">VMware Suit Concludes in Germany</a></li>
<li><a href="http://faif.us/cast/2019/apr/22/0x66/"><cite>Free as in
Freedom</cite> podcast that discusses the conclusion of the
lawsuit</a></li>
<li><a href="/news/2016/aug/09/vmware-appeal/">Announcement of Appeal</a></li>
<li><a href="/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">Original Press Release</a></li>
<li><a href="/copyleft-compliance/vmware-lawsuit-appeal.html">Funding our Compliance Work</a></li>
<li><a href="/copyleft-compliance/vmware-lawsuit-faq.html">
<abbr title="Frequently Asked Questions">FAQ</abbr> on VMware Lawsuit</a></li>
<li><a href="/copyleft-compliance/vmware-code-similarity.html">VMware's &amp;
Christoph's Code Similarity Analysis</a></li>
</ul>
</p>
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