If you steal 10 lines of code from me, the damages will be the greater of:
- The benefit to you (10 minutes programmer time)
- The cost to me ($0)
- Statutory damages (probably $200)
In other words, it's very unlikely to be worth a lawsuit. The most likely outcome is:
- A legal letter is sent
- Infringing code is removed
- As good bedside manner, some nominal amount of money is transferred, mostly in some gesture designed to make the violated party feel good about themselves (e.g. a nice gift).
If you steal 10 lines of code from me, the damages will be the greater of:
- The benefit to you (10 minutes programmer time)
- The cost to me ($0)
- Statutory damages (probably $200)
In other words, it's very unlikely to be worth a lawsuit. The most likely outcome is:
- A legal letter is sent
- Infringing code is removed
- As good bedside manner, some nominal amount of money is transferred, mostly in some gesture designed to make the violated party feel good about themselves (e.g. a nice gift).