| Abstract: | Legal context: The phenomenon of open-source software, and especially the exponentialgrowth of its most successful project, Linux, has spawned oneof the most hotly debated topics in technical and legal Communities.The Communities attempt to balance the limitation of softwarelicences in contract and copyright law with the goals of open-sourcesoftware. Key points: This article evaluates common law approaches to software licencesand examines the applicability of international sales of goodstreaties. The American adaptation of copyright law to computersoftware provides a foundation for analysing decisions in theUK and other Commonwealth countries. It describes the Linuxcommunity's adaptation of open-source development models toaccommodate the realities of copyright law while encouragingparticipation from commercial vendors and their considerableresources. Practical significance: Courts and market inertia will force both the open-source andclosed-source models to co-exist. Legal practitioners worldwidehave the opportunity to help the software Community embraceboth open-source and closed-source developers by explainingthe utility of this adaptation in both legal and technical arenas. |
