Violation Of Open Source Licence Agreement Creates Liability For Copyright Infringement

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that an open source software licence was enforceable and can attract liability for copyright infringement.

In this case, the plaintiff Jacobsen had developed model railroad design software. He made it available for public download free of charge, under the so-called "Artistic License" (a form of open source licence). The licence permits users to copy, modify or distribute the licensed content provided that they restate the attribution information found in the software, repeat all copyright notices and document any modifications made to the software from its original form.

Jacobsen alleged that the defendants Katzer and Kamind Associates downloaded his code, included it in their competing software program and failed to comply with the terms of the Artistic License. He sued Katzer and Kamind for copyright infringement and sought a preliminary injunction.