Intellectual Property Law

Jacobsen v. Katzer

By Michael Kivi

“Trust me, this is huge.” Larry Lessig

My partner Andy Updegrove has written a post discussing Jacobsen v. Katzer. In a nutshell, theCAFC upheld an open source copyright license, pointing to the work of Creative Commons and others. As Andy discusses, this is an important decision for the open source movement.

Update: Here is a link to a thoughtful post discussing whether this decision might have the unexpected effect of tipping the scales (in favor of licensors) on the legal enforceability of license provisions prohibiting reverse engineering of software: Be Careful What You Wish For: How the Jacobsen v. Katzer Decision Could Hurt the Free Software Movement

Full post as published by Mass Law Blog on August 22, 2008 (boomark / email).