Judge Hints Vizio TV Buyers May Have Rights To Source Code Licensed Under GPL (theregister.com)
(Thursday December 18, 2025 @05:40PM (BeauHD)
from the show-us-the-source dept.)
- Reference: 0180418263
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/12/18/1949229/judge-hints-vizio-tv-buyers-may-have-rights-to-source-code-licensed-under-gpl
- Source link: https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/vizio_gpl_source_code_ruling/
A California judge signaled support for [1]forcing Vizio to provide the full source code for its SmartCast TV software after finding a contractual obligation under the GPL. If upheld, the case could strengthen users' rights to modify GPL-licensed software embedded in consumer electronics. The Register reports:
> The legal complaint from the Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) seeks access to the SmartCast source code so that Vizio customers can make changes and improvements to the platform, something that ought to be possible for code distributed under the GPL. On Thursday, California Superior Court Judge Sandy Leal issued a tentative ruling in advance of a hearing, indicating support for part of SFC's legal challenge. The tentative ruling is not a final decision, but it signals the judge's inclination to grant the SFC's motion for summary adjudication, at least in part.
>
> "The [2]tentative ruling [PDF] grants SFC's motion on the issue that a direct contract was made between SFC and Vizio when SFC's systems administrator, Paul Visscher, requested the source code to a TV that SFC has purchased," the SFC said in a [3]blog post . "This contract obligated Vizio to provide SFC the complete and corresponding source code." [...]
>
> Karen Sandler, executive director of the SFC, told The Register in an email that the hearing went well, though Vizio's legal counsel "stridently disagreed" with the legal analysis in the tentative ruling. "Judge Leal said she would take the matter 'under submission' which means she will think about it further," Sandler said. "After the Court went off the record, Leal's clerk specifically verified the Court reporter could provide an expedited transcript, so Leal will likely review the hearing transcript soon." Sandler expects Leal will examine the filings again before issuing her opinion, which is likely to be issued in the next few weeks.
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/vizio_gpl_source_code_ruling/
[2] https://sfconservancy.org/static/docs/2025-12-04-sleal-tentative-rulings.pdf
[3] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2025/dec/04/tentative-vizio-ruling-in-favor-of-sfc/
> The legal complaint from the Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) seeks access to the SmartCast source code so that Vizio customers can make changes and improvements to the platform, something that ought to be possible for code distributed under the GPL. On Thursday, California Superior Court Judge Sandy Leal issued a tentative ruling in advance of a hearing, indicating support for part of SFC's legal challenge. The tentative ruling is not a final decision, but it signals the judge's inclination to grant the SFC's motion for summary adjudication, at least in part.
>
> "The [2]tentative ruling [PDF] grants SFC's motion on the issue that a direct contract was made between SFC and Vizio when SFC's systems administrator, Paul Visscher, requested the source code to a TV that SFC has purchased," the SFC said in a [3]blog post . "This contract obligated Vizio to provide SFC the complete and corresponding source code." [...]
>
> Karen Sandler, executive director of the SFC, told The Register in an email that the hearing went well, though Vizio's legal counsel "stridently disagreed" with the legal analysis in the tentative ruling. "Judge Leal said she would take the matter 'under submission' which means she will think about it further," Sandler said. "After the Court went off the record, Leal's clerk specifically verified the Court reporter could provide an expedited transcript, so Leal will likely review the hearing transcript soon." Sandler expects Leal will examine the filings again before issuing her opinion, which is likely to be issued in the next few weeks.
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/vizio_gpl_source_code_ruling/
[2] https://sfconservancy.org/static/docs/2025-12-04-sleal-tentative-rulings.pdf
[3] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2025/dec/04/tentative-vizio-ruling-in-favor-of-sfc/
just run to corrupt SCOTUS (Score:2)
corrupt SCOTUS will fix everything in favor of republicans and large corporations.
Re: just run to corrupt SCOTUS (Score:2)
A copyright case with little impact outside the two parties? Not the type of case they have time for.
Re: (Score:2)
> A copyright case with little impact outside the two parties?
There are a lot of corporations that are going to watch the outcome of this case very carefully as they want to continue to use open source code freely without releasing their own code to be examined and/or used by others.
There is a lot of IP riding on the outcome of this and similar decisions.
Re: (Score:2)
> Most corporations don't use GPL code
Then they aren't affected. Full stop.
> Vizio fucked up big here, but the courts could fuck up big too by not recognizing how insanely important a single GPL case like this can be
This is true. So the courts shouldn't fuck up. Shouldn't need to say this as it is essentially a truism.
> The GPL/AGPL are a good way to keep corporate hands off your code
It's only as good as the enforcement mechanism.
> A bad ruling could destroy that
Any number of things could destroy that...bad rulings, bad enforcement, graft, political interference, ignorant or malevolent public servants, ignorant or malevolent jurors just to name a few.
For the law to work properly everything that enables it has to work properly. It's a moderately fragile system that require co