Judge
overturns 2007 Unix copyright decision
Spinners at the anti-Linux bad-boy SCO have managed to
put a really good angle on an appeal result.
A federal appeals court Monday overturned a 2007 decision
that Novell owns the Unix code and sent the case back to trial, clearing the
way for SCO to pursue a $1 billion copyright infringement case against IBM.
In a 54-page decision, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
said it was reversing the 2007 summary judgment decision by Judge Dale Kimball
of the US District Court for the District of Utah, which found that Novell was
the owner of Unix and UnixWare copyrights.
SCO CEO Darl McBride told the Salt Lake City Tribune that
the decision was a “huge validation for SCO” and that it would enable the
company to continue its lawsuit against IBM and a related suit against Novell. However this is not quite true. The appeals court
affirmed a $2.5 million judgement against SCO. It must now pay up or appeal.
Being bankrupt SCO does not really have $2.5 million to spend.
The appeals court did not say SCO was right. It just
reversed a summery judgement against the company. While this is annoying, the
bankrupt company might not be able to afford the time or the money to fight a
full trial. If it manages it then a jury will probably come to the same
decision that the Judge did and throw the book at SCO.