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Comment by slantyyz | Hacker News Reader

Look at the two links provided in one of my other comments pointing to perpetualbeta.com. That guy is an IP lawyer who provided some opinion that is not on the side of Wordpress.

EDIT: Not many licenses have been challenged in court, including the GPL. Do you have any cases to cite in favor of GPL?

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From your search link, I don't see any results of cases where the infringement wasn't based primarily on redistribution of the original work.

I don't think that Thesis is distributed with a copy of Wordpress. I definitely think it's a sketchier argument to make with a theme. Settlement of a case doesn't always mean that the defendant is going to lose either. It can also mean that the cost and distraction of a protracted suit makes it easier to swallow the cost of the settlement.

You are right they are different issues. Personally I would like to see Matt and FSF go after him and end the debate once and for all.

That would make for an interesting case, and if I'm not mistaken, the first real test case for the GPL.

He isn't an IP lawyer. He's a real-estate foreclosure and bankruptcy lawyer. In his bio at the law firm he co-founded I can't find a mention of any IP-related expertise: http://ricardolaw.com/michael-alex-wasylik/

Not to say that his argument couldn't fly, but I'm not sure I would give it that much credence either.

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=...

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