Re: Use of GPL'd code with proprietary programs

[Martin Dickopp]

Alexander Terekhov <terekhov@web.de> writes:

> Take this.
>
> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/copyright-versus-community.html
> [...]
> http://www.tlug.jp/docs/rms.html
> [...]
>
> These are all potential "exhibits", you know. ;-)

No, these are opinions on copyright law.  Even if a judge disagrees
completely with RMS, he (the judge) is supposed to base his ruling
on facts, not on which party he finds the most sympathetic.  If it
really happens that a judge is so heavily biased that he rules
against RMS based on the entirely unrelated matter of what copyright
law *should be*, it's easy to get the ruling reversed in an appeal
case.

On a personal note, I can tell you that I have indeed been involved
in a court case where the opposite party tried to bring up various
items not related to the case as "exhibits".  My first hand experience
is that judges don't find this tactic funny at all, and if anything,
it just weakens the position of the party which tries it.

Martin