In the first decision of its kind, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has recognized that violation of the terms for use of “open source,” or free computer code licenses can constitute copyright infringement, rather than a simple breach of contract.
That important distinction could leave violators liable for as much as $150,000 in statutory damages and attorney fees, even though the free exchange of open-source code is unlikely to produce immediate damages for loss of traditional copyright license fees.
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