[ Thanks to Brendan Scott for this
link. ]
“Over the past twelve months or so I’ve noticed
an upswing in enquiries about free software compliance. For
example, someone might be seeking access to source code for
embedded devices with Linux and/or Busybox on them. One of the key
problems for pursuing compliance is the legal concept of
“standing”. That is, does the court think you have a
right to press the claim in question? So for example, if you see
someone (A) breach a contract with someone else (B), a court will
probably not let you sue A, basically because that is B’s
business [1]. B might not be concerned about the breach, or B might
have a relationship with A (or someone else) that might be
jeopardised by suing A, so it should be up to B to make the
decision about whether to proceed with a suit. Moreover, A has not
infringed a right that you have, so why should you be able to sue?
You’ve not suffered damage, so why should you be able to sue?
In short, a court seeks to limit the people bringing actions to
only those people whose rights have been infringed. So, if you, not
holding copyright, see someone breaching the GPL, you can’t
sue them in copyright to enforce compliance.”