Novell wins Unix copyright ruling

Novell, and not SCO Group, owns the copyrights covering the Unix computer-operating system, a federal judge ruled in a lawsuit over royalties from users of the Linux computer-operating system.

The ruling Friday by U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball in Salt Lake City is a setback for SCO in its lawsuits against Novell and IBM.

SCO is seeking billions of dollars in royalty payments from hundreds of companies and is also in litigation with Red Hat, a maker of Linux software. SCO's case had been set for trial next month.

SCO bought certain rights to the Unix operating system, which Linux was modeled on, from Novell in 1995 for $145 million, including the right to license Unix to others.

SCO sued for slander of title after Novell publicly disputed ownership of the Unix copyrights and said SCO didn't have the right to demand royalties from IBM.

The ruling "vindicates the position Novell has taken since the inception of the dispute with SCO," said Joe LaSala, a Novell senior vice president, Saturday.

SCO spokesman Blake Stowell didn't a return voice-mail message seeking comment.