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Novell produces “smoking gun” in SCO case

The minutes from a Novell Board of Directors meeting shortly before the SCO …

Eric Bangeman – | 0

Things have been relatively quiet with SCO lately. The suits it has filed against IBM and Novell have moved ahead slowly, in no small part due to SCO's numerous requests for postponements and dragging out the discovery process. However, the Novell case could get interesting rather quickly, as Novell has filed a reply in the case which appears to seriously undermine SCO's claims about owning the copyrights to Unix.

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At the heart of this case is whether the Santa Cruz Operation acquired Unix copyrights along with the right to market and develop versions of Novell's UnixWare. SCO claims it did. According to its Reply in Support of Novell's Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, Novell did not transfer of any of its UNIX copyrights with the transaction. The minutes of a September 18, 1995 meeting of the Novell Board of Directors show that the Board approved the agreement with the Santa Cruz Operation with the understanding that Novell retained all of its Unix copyrights. From the minutes (PDF):

Novell will retain all of its patents, copyrights, and trademarks (except for the trademarks UNIX and UnixWare), a royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide license back to UNIX and UnixWare for internal use and resale in bundled products, Tuxedo and other miscellaneous, unrelated technology.

If Novell never transferred the Unix copyrights to the Santa Cruz Operation, there is no basis for SCO's legal action against Novell (and Autozone). The result of this and some other recent filings that SCO has made in the case could very well be a summary judgment in Novell's favor. Either way, SCO's prospects for a victory are looking grim. While they were able to finally sign an agreement capping their legal fees at US$31 million (plus a percentage of any awards), their stock price has continued to slide.

If Novell is successful in having the case dismissed this time around, or even gaining a summary judgment, it would be a huge blow against SCO. Without any Unix copyrights, SCO is exposed as being "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

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Eric Bangeman Managing Editor
Eric Bangeman is the Managing Editor of Ars Technica. In addition to overseeing the daily operations at Ars, Eric also manages story development for the Policy and Automotive sections. He lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where he enjoys cycling and playing the bass.
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