3 ms·

It is strange, but I have seen in novel court cases where cases in other countries are used as an example. It is possible that they want the court to either con

by belorn 5y ago

It is strange, but I have seen in novel court cases where cases in other countries are used as an example. It is possible that they want the court to either confirm that GPL should be treated as a copyright license and not a contract, or that GPL can be seen as a contract in which users has a third-party beneficiary role. When they have that ruling they can use it as an example in countries where a gpl case has yet to be tested. It is also possible that they simply are testing something new when other approaches have failed. According to the press kit, the case is claimed to be unique.

zucker42 5y ago
> I have seen in novel court cases where cases in other countries are used as an example Do you mean novel court cases in the U.S. referencing cases from other countries? My impression was the U.S. was loath to base legal decisions on those from other countries (with the exception of British common law from before U.S. independence). Contrast this to Europe where the EU has adopted common European courts. It would be less surprising if you were talking about European courts cross-referencing each other. I just don't know why they'd choose this strategy, except as a hail mary to create a new standing doctrine for software license. Has suing on behalf of the copyright holders proven insufficient in the U.S.?
stordoff 5y ago
> It is strange, but I have seen in novel court cases where cases in other countries are used as an example. AIUI, it's relatively common in common law jurisdictions as a form of persuasive precedent[1] (I'm most familiar with England and Wales, where it has been noted "[c]ases decided in other jurisdictions can, if properly used, be a valuable source of law in this jurisdiction"). Though non-binding, the jurisdictions are based on (broadly) the same legal principles, so in areas where common law (as opposed to statue) predominates, a ruling in a comparable jurisdiction may suggest that similar findings would be true in the current jurisdiction, even if it hasn't formally been decided by a higher court. As such, it can be illustrative to examine the reasoning of a rational, out of jurisdiction court and see how it would map to the current jurisdiction. If the necessary legal principles are applicable in the current jurisdiction, it would suggest a similar decision would be reached, but if something specific to this jurisdiction interrupts the chain of reasoning, it suggests local courts must come to a different decision, and may indicate how the ruling must be modified. As another example, if the reasonableness of a person's actions must be examined, a competent, rational court supporting similar actions in an adjacent jurisdiction may add strength to an argument that the person's actions were reasonable. There is a brief discussion on the use of foreign caselaw by the House of Lords (predecessor to the Supreme Court) at [3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent#Persuasive_effect_of_decisions_from_other_jurisdictions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent#Persuasive_effect_of... [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20110204002153/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/814.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20110204002153/http://www.hmcour... [3] https://web.archive.org/web/20191025182334/https://www.loc.gov/law/help/domestic-judgment/englandandwales.php https://web.archive.org/web/20191025182334/https://www.loc.g...

by belorn 5y ago

zucker42 5y ago

> I have seen in novel court cases where cases in other countries are used as an example Do you mean novel court cases in the U.S. referencing cases from other countries? My impression was the U.S. was loath to base legal decisions on those from other countries (with the exception of British common law from before U.S. independence). Contrast this to Europe where the EU has adopted common European courts. It would be less surprising if you were talking about European courts cross-referencing each other. I just don't know why they'd choose this strategy, except as a hail mary to create a new standing doctrine for software license. Has suing on behalf of the copyright holders proven insufficient in the U.S.?

stordoff 5y ago

> It is strange, but I have seen in novel court cases where cases in other countries are used as an example. AIUI, it's relatively common in common law jurisdictions as a form of persuasive precedent[1] (I'm most familiar with England and Wales, where it has been noted "[c]ases decided in other jurisdictions can, if properly used, be a valuable source of law in this jurisdiction"). Though non-binding, the jurisdictions are based on (broadly) the same legal principles, so in areas where common law (as opposed to statue) predominates, a ruling in a comparable jurisdiction may suggest that similar findings would be true in the current jurisdiction, even if it hasn't formally been decided by a higher court. As such, it can be illustrative to examine the reasoning of a rational, out of jurisdiction court and see how it would map to the current jurisdiction. If the necessary legal principles are applicable in the current jurisdiction, it would suggest a similar decision would be reached, but if something specific to this jurisdiction interrupts the chain of reasoning, it suggests local courts must come to a different decision, and may indicate how the ruling must be modified. As another example, if the reasonableness of a person's actions must be examined, a competent, rational court supporting similar actions in an adjacent jurisdiction may add strength to an argument that the person's actions were reasonable. There is a brief discussion on the use of foreign caselaw by the House of Lords (predecessor to the Supreme Court) at [3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent#Persuasive_effect_of_decisions_from_other_jurisdictions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent#Persuasive_effect_of... [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20110204002153/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/814.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20110204002153/http://www.hmcour... [3] https://web.archive.org/web/20191025182334/https://www.loc.gov/law/help/domestic-judgment/englandandwales.php https://web.archive.org/web/20191025182334/https://www.loc.g...