[FWD: RE: [Ebxmlrr-tech] License issue with our customer]

[Ben Tilly]

Another group to contact is the EFF (electronic freedom foundation). 
That said, I'll note that this doesn't sound to this non-lawyer like a
case of corporate lawyers trampling on free licences, but rather a
dispute about who owns the copyright.  In particular the customer
seems to be claiming that this was a work for hire, while the people
who did the work don't.

If it was a work for hire, then it is not open source code no matter
what the people who wrote it may have said.  If it was not a work for
hire, then the authors can do what they want with the code, including
release it as open source.  Whether or not it will be determined to be
a work for hire depends upon the exact facts that are presented about
the case.  If documentation of what happened and/or funding for legal
fees are lacking, then it may wind up being determined to be a work
for hire even when it shouldn't. :-(

Or at least that is what my limited understanding of the law says.  A
real lawyer could tell you more.

Cheers,
Ben

PS A note for the future.  It is generally a good idea to get a real
lawyer involved BEFORE cases go to court.  Lawyers can do many things
for you.  An important one is that they can give you a realistic
assessment of your case which can help you decide whether it is better
to settle out of court, and if you choose to can help negotiate that
agreement.  Another good one is that when the other side knows that
you actually have a lawyer and know your rights, they may back down. 
(They may - depending on the facts of the case - be hoping to win by
virtue of the fact that the suit is filed in a state that is hard for
you to get to.)

On 5/3/06, David RR Webber (XML) <david at drrw.info> wrote:
> Team,
>
> Can anyone provide some help for Ladislav here?
>
> Seems like once again corporate lawyers are trying to trample on open
> licensing...
>
> Thanks, DW
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ladislav Urban [mailto:ladislav.urban at webswell.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 12:34 PM
> To: ebxmlrr-tech
> Cc: Sacha Schlegel; Vladimir Alexovic
> Subject: [Ebxmlrr-tech] License issue with our customer
>
> Hello all,
> we have recently successfully completed integration project (May 2,
> 2006) based on our integration package Webswell Connect. This package is
> under Academic Free License and uses Ebxml Reg/Rep and other components
> associated with Freebxml.
>
> Our customer decided to charge us with copyright breaking issue at the
> court. The claim is that all open source software is copyrighted
> property of the customer because he payed our company to fix the bugs in
> Webswell Connect. They accuse us from false advertisement that Webswell
> Connect in the recent version belongs to Webswell and is spread under
> Academic Free License. They want us to reverse all changes that have
> been made by us on any OS SW that is used on the given integration
> project and withdraw it from SourceForge and all companies that use it.
>
> I have to tell that we have made many changes during the time of the
> project that has not been payed by the Customer and are not used by the
> customer.
>
> They deleted emails on my notebook during yesterdays visit and tell all
> employees of the customer to not speak with us. I do backups so I have
> not lost any documentation.
>
> We are small company we are only 2 plus one external member. We do not
> have to much money to spend on the attorneys. Do you know somebody who
> is able to help us in this case?
>
> The court conference is on September 5, 2006 in United States District
> Court, Albany, New York. The magistrate judge is David R. Homer.
>
> I will send you the agreement with the customer and jury trial documents
> and other documents on request.
>
> We are convinced that the agreement with our customer can not give them
> copyright rights to software under Academic Free License.
>
> Thank you for your help in advance.
> Ladislav
>
> --
> Ladislav Urban
> CEO
> Webswell Inc.
> 1333 Howe Avenue, Suite 100
> Sacramento, 95825 CA
> email: ladislav.urban at webswell.com
> phone: +1 (916) 290-2040
> fax: +1 (916) 921-2850
> http://www.webswell.com
>
>
>
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