Hacker News Reader

Comment by oliwarner | Hacker News Reader

> The GPL can never force you to share your source code.

If you distributed something with illicit GPL code in it, could the recipient not sue you for the full source?

We talk about what the GPL can and can't do but it's just a civil agreement between two parties. It's what a lawyer can convince a judge to order that matters.

View on HN

I'm not a GPL expert or lawyer, so I'm unable to answer with certainty. However my reading of the GPL is that the recipient does not have a right to sue you at all, it is the copyright holder of the GPL code who has a right to sue you for license infringement. The GPL states that your license to distribute is terminated immediately on infringement (there is some grace window in version 3). I think there could be some damages for the unlawful distribution that would have already happened, but I cannot see how the court can force you to pay for the damages using your proprietary code. I don't know, maybe the original owner is ready to waive damages if you agree to distribute your own code, but that's something you would have to agree to yourself.

If the recipient was sold property that the seller did not have a right to, I could imagine that the buyer can sue for fraud. I sometimes see reference in news article where police encourage buyers of stolen goods to sue the seller, since the property will always be returned to the rightful owner without any compensation to the person who thought they bought it.

Right to sue? This is civil contract law. Anybody has the right to try to sue anyone. If the claimant can convince a judge the software should be considered under the contract of the original GPL license, they could order it be complied with. Why? Because the GPL assigns rights to the recipient and user of the software. To not comply puts users at demonstrable loss.

And I don't see what's so strange about a court ordering the disclosure of source code. Loads of civil court rulings reassign property.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com