Risks associated with the use of open source software can have a major impact on the value of businesses, explain David Boutcher and Bob Stankey
Conditions on the use of open source software will be easier to enforce following a recent US court ruling. In the first decision by a US federal appeals court in the burgeoning area of open source licensing, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has confirmed in Jacobsen v Katzer that violations of open source software licences constitute copyright infringement. This means that powerful remedies are available under US copyright law for these breaches, including injunctions and statutory damages. Authors of open source code are consequently not limited to pursuing less effective breach of contract claims when licences are violated.
