A decision by Hamburg's Regional Court has raised the issue over responsibility for open source software after judges ruled that a feature, which had allowed the downloading of copyrighted and protected Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMPE) material within software JDownloader 2, breached Germany's Copyright Act. "The fundamental legal question is who is liable for open source software," Christian Solmecke, an attorney specializing in copyright law at Wilde Beuger Solmecke in Cologne, told BNA. "Are open-source operators now under a duty to monitor each and every modification made by their communities for legal infringements?"
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