Copyright And Copyleft In Corporate Disputes: Comparative Judicial Perspectives And Their Impact On Intellectual Property Governance
- IJLLR Journal
- 3 days ago
- 1 min read
Kritarth Shyam, Assistant Professor, City Academy Law College, Lucknow (Affiliated to University of Lucknow)
ABSTRACT
The emergence of digital technologies and open-source ecosystems has placed conventional copyright and copyleft licensing in direct conflict inside corporate litigation globally, particularly in India's increasingly software- dependent economy. This study analyses the judicial interpretation and enforcement of proprietary copyright claims and copyleft/open source licenses in corporate conflicts related to software, digital material, and technology-driven business models. The research employs a doctrinal and comparative approach to analyse prominent Indian and international case law regarding software copyright, indirect copying, and open source compliance, in conjunction with legislative requirements and academic comments. The principal results indicate that while courts often exhibit strength in safeguarding proprietary copyright inside business environments, their treatment of copyleft licenses has transitioned from seeing them as simple contracts to acknowledging their infringement as copyright offenses with significant financial repercussions. Judicial reasoning often exhibits a conflict between the ability to create via open partnerships and corporate motivations to preserve exclusive control, especially in mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, and embedded software products. The paper asserts that a more cohesive framework for judicial handling of copyleft in corporate litigation—particularly in elucidating the copyright–contract interface, "license contamination" risks, and remedial principles—is crucial for legal certainty and for reconciling innovation with protection in the digital economy.
Keywords: Copyright; Copyleft; Corporate Lawsuit; Open source Licenses; Software Copyright
