If you look at it under current copyright law, every time Sony has distributed this icon without the GPL (e.g., the page on which it resides has been viewed) ca

If you look at it under current copyright law, every time Sony has distributed this icon without the GPL (e.g., the page on which it resides has been viewed) can be considered an infringement of the original artist's copyright. Sony would be liable for between $750 and $150,000 per instance. Say this page has been viewed 100,000 times. That's 100,000 violations of the original copyright. Statutory damages awarded could be upward of $75,000,000. We balk at these figures when applied to eight year olds and grandmothers, because these figures were oriented towards companies and individuals that violate copyright in order to profit from it. RIAA can sue individuals for violating their copyright by distributing music files; artists should be able to sue Sony right back for violating their copyright by distributing their icon without following the stipulations set out by the original artist. That's how copyright law is supposed to work, anyways. And no, they haven't "lost" anything. But Sony still broke the law.