GPL lawsuit in Germany

[Nick Mailer]

On Fri, Jan 25, 2002 at 12:25:13AM +0100, Joerg Schilling wrote:
> 
> >Let us assume that, indeed, the contract is somehow "invalid". Well,
> >that's fine - they don't use it. Their problem is, it is the ONLY
> >contract you are prepared to offer. Even if you were forced to STOP
> >offering that contract, this is not forcing you to START offering
> >laisez-faire acceptance of a complete breach of your protected
> >copyright! I hope you understand the point I'm making, because it is
> >obvious and crucial, and if you can make them understand it, they will
> >buckle down very quickly.
> 
> kI have been told that of course, I can stop this person immediately to 
> continue to break my license but I am only able to get a finacial compensation 
> for what this person did illegaly.
> 

No. You seem to think that once their modified version is created,
then the best you can expect is some sort of compensation. This is NOT
the case. German Law, I'm sure, is similar to other systems whose
countries are signatories to the Berne Conventions. As such, they will
be required to Cease and Desist from distributing their modified
version of your software. This is a very clear copyright issue. I
suggest you make it clear to them that you will not be intimidated or
bamboozled, and get in touch with Profesor Moglen as soon as possible!

As for their statements about the GPL - well, they might think they're
being ingenious, but they're caught in the instantiation of a fallacy.
And it will be an expensive one for them, if they do not stop this
nonsense soon.