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Because contributions to Linux are meticulously attributed to, and remain property of, their authors, those authors bear ultimate responsibility. If Fred Foobar
by bitwize 6mo ago
Because contributions to Linux are meticulously attributed to, and remain property of, their authors, those authors bear ultimate responsibility. If Fred Foobar sends patches to the kernel that, as it turns out, contain copyrighted code, then provided upstream maintainers did reasonable due diligence the court will go after Fred Foobar for damages, and quite likely demand that the kernel organization no longer distribute copies of the kernel with Fred's code in it.
- sarchertech 6mo agoAnyone distributing infringing material can be liable, and it’s unlikely that this technicality will actually would shield anyone. Anyone who thinks they have a strong infringement case isn’t going to stop at the guy who authored the code, they’re going to go after anyone with deep pockets with a good chance of winning.
- Marha01 6mo ago> Anyone distributing infringing material can be liable There is still the "mens rea" principle. If you distribute infringing material unknowingly, it would very likely not result in any penalties.
- sarchertech 6mo agoCopyright is strict liability. There’s no mens rea required.