Copyright Law | Expert Legal Commentary

December 16, 2008

Jacobsen v. Katzer: An Open Source License Is a Copyright License

Robert Jacobsen v. Matthew Katzer, et al.

By Katherine G. Eickmeyer

In an opinion seen as a major development in open source jurisprudence, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in Jacobsen v. Katzer, 535 F.3d 1373 (Fed. Cir. 2008), open source licenses create conditions on the scope of the license, and failure to comply with those conditions may constitute copyright infringement.

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Companies Mentioned

Kamind Associates, Inc. a.k.a. KAM Industries

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The following companies are mentioned in Copyright Law Updates:

MGA Entertainment (HK) Ltd.

Mattel, Inc.

MGA Entertainment Inc.

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers

Geoffrey Productions, Inc.

Universal City Studios LLLP

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

Turner Network Television LP, LLLP

Turner Network Sales, Inc.

Turner Classic Movies, LP, LLLP

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

The Cartoon Network LP, LLP

Paramount Pictures Corp.

NBC Studios, Inc.

Disney Enterprises, Inc.

CSC Holdings, Inc.

CBS Broadcasting Inc.

Cablevision Systems Corp.

Cable News Network LP, LLLP

American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Kamind Associates, Inc. a.k.a. KAM Industries

Westbound Records, Inc.

UMG Recordings, Inc.

All Headline News Corp.

Janice Combs Publishing, Inc. d.b.a. Justin Combs Publishing

American Software Development Company, Inc.

Bad Boy Records LLC

Affordable Video Systems, Ltd.

Bad Boy Entertainment, Inc. d.b.a. Bad Boy Records

Dream Games of Arizona, Inc.

Yahoo! Inc.

Frank Diana City Entertainment

Television Music License Committee

PC Onsite

SESAC, Inc.

Simon & Schuster, Inc.

RealNetworks, Inc.

AOL LLC f.k.a. America Online, Inc.

Northern Lights Products, Inc. d.b.a. GlowProducts.com

Litecubes, LLC

Poof Apparel Corp.

Derek Andrew, Inc.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Inc.

Brayton Purcell LLP

Classic Media, Inc.

Bedford Falls Productions, Inc.

Lava Films, LLC

Launch Media, Inc.

Blueport Co., LLC

MGAE De Mexico, S.R.L. De C.V.