Novell asserts SCO owns no Unix patents or copyright

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 28 May 2003 at 18:11

In a series of statements that will overshadow SCO's healthy quarterly results announcement today, Novell and SCO have traded stern words, with Novell challenging SCO's assertion that it owns either the copyrights or the patents to the Unix System V operating system.

Novell's CEO Jack L Messman claimed in a letter to SCO CEO Darl McBride: 'We believe it unlikely that SCO can demonstrate that it has any ownership interest whatsoever in those copyrights.'

He pointed out that SCO's acquisition of Unix System V from Novell in 1995 did not include the copyrights and patents among the assets. Messman wrote that a cursory search of the US Copyright Office records would confirm this.

However, in a conference call today on SCO's most recent quarter, McBride admitted that the contract between the two companies contained confusing language and that 'Novell retains some of those rights,' which he described as 'residual'.

He said that prior to today's statement from Novell and to pursuing the SCOsource licensing initiative, the CEOs and legal teams from both companies had sat down and agreed that the intention of the contract was 'to transfer all copyrights', with the result that 'SCO has the absolute right to pursue its enforcements.'

He said: 'It's like selling someone a book without the words in it.'

Novell's Messman said in the letter that he believed SCO was equally uncomfortable with its claim, 'since over the last few months [SCO has] repeatedly asked Novell to transfer the copyrights to SCO, requests that Novell has rejected.'

McBride's response, which he gave during the teleconference, was that while the good folk at Novell were generally happy that SCO owned, to all intents and purposes, the Unix operating system, there were 'higher ups' as he described that he believed had decided 'if SCO wants these copyrights, then they must be important, so we should hold on to them.' In short, McBride was confident that if the issue were ever to go to court, then a judge would concur that full copyright was intended to go to SCO.

SCO's real beef, said McBride, is not about copyright or patents, but with the abuse of Unix by IBM, which it is pursuing on the strength of IBM's contractual obligations with SCO.

The company is adamant that the misappropriation of Unix code into Linux involved 'significant code violations... it wasn't just a line or two.' McBride added that three teams were assembled to look for misappropriation of code in Linux and that they all returned with independent reports that such violations exist.

It comes down to whom you decide to believe. But however you choose to look at it, SCO has bet the farm on the IBM suit.

The Linux world, it would appear, is relatively safe. Even if SCO's suit is upheld, the code in question would then be revealed, giving Linux vendors the chance to replace it.

Novell stated it would not pursue the enforcement of what it claims as its Unix patents and copyrights within Linux. It is in full support of Linux with the latest versions of its NetWare products.

Despite SCO's confidence of the intention of the Unix transaction, it remains to be seen if the company has the stomach for such a fight to determine this.