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<h1>Current Status of Vizio Case</h1>

<p>We are awaiting the state judge's ruling on Vizio's motion for <a href="/copyleft-compliance/glossary.html#summary-judgment">summary judgment</a>.</p>

<h3>History of Vizio Case</h3>

<p>On October 19, 2021, SFC filed a third-party beneficiary contract <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/software-freedom-conservancy-v-vizio-complaint-2021-10-19.pdf">lawsuit</a> against Vizio in California State Court in Orange County, CA.  Our <a href="/copyleft-compliance/glossary.html#complaint">complaint</a> demands <em>no financial compensation</em> but instead asks for what truly matters with regard to software rights and freedom: the "specific performance" (fulfilling a contract requirement in exactly the way the contract specifies) of production of complete, corresponding source code (CCS) &mdash; as defined in the various GPL Agreements (such as GPLv2 and LGPLv2.1).</p>

<p>Vizio has still not provided CCS for their televisions to SFC, and so our lawsuit continues.  Instead, Vizio <a href="/blog/2021/dec/28/vizio-update-1/">attempted to &ldquo;remove&rdquo;</a> the case to federal court (arguing that copyright claims <em>preempted</em> our third-party beneficiary contract claim).  We <a href="/news/2022/may/16/vizio-remand-win/">succeeded in our motion to remand the case back to state court</a>; the federal judge <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808.30.0.pdf">agreed that our case included an &ldquo;extra element&rdquo;</a> not covered by copyright.</p>

<p>After several months of litigation back in state court, Vizio <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/2023-4-28_VIZIOs_Motion_for_Summary_Judgment_with_Reservation.pdf">filed for</a> <a href="/copyleft-compliance/glossary.html#summary-judgment">summary judgment</a> in the state court <em>again</em> arguing copyright preemption. The state court is not bound by the federal court's ruling against preemption, so Vizio was able to essentially re-argue its motion to dismiss. Vizio also argued that the GPL Agreements have no third-party beneficiaries (which is the first time Vizio has tried to attack these claims substantively).  Currently, we are awaiting the judge's ruling on Vizio's motion for summary judgment.</p>

<p>The case is currently set for trial to begin on March 25, 2024.</p>

<h3>Portions of Interest from the Docket in the Vizio Case</h3>

Below are documents from the docket(s) in this SFC v. Vizio case of interest,

provided in (roughly) chronological order:

<ul>

<br>

<li><a

href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/software-freedom-conservancy-v-vizio-complaint-2021-10-19.pdf">SFC's

Original Complaint, 2021-10-19</li>

<li>Removal (to federal court) and Remand (to state court)</li>

<ul>

  <li><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808.1.0.pdf">Vizio's Motion to Remove (to federal court)</li>

  <li><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808.14.0_1.pdf">SFC's Motion to Remand (to state court)</li>

  <li><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808.24.0_1.pdf">Vizio's Opposition of SFC's Motion to Remand (to state court)</li>

  <li><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808.32.0.pdf">Transcript of the hearing of the motion to remand</a></li>

  <li><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808/gov.uscourts.cacd.837808.30.0.pdf"><strong>Decision by the federal court to remand the case to state court</strong></li>

</ul>

<li>Vizio's Motion for Summary Judgement</li>

<ul>

  <li><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/2023-4-28_VIZIOs_Motion_for_Summary_Judgment_with_Reservation.pdf">Vizio's Motion for Summary Judgment</li>

  <li><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/SFC_response_to_summary_judgement.pdf">SFC's response to Vizio's Motion for Summary Judgment</li>

  <li><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/Vizio_summary_judgement_reply_brief.pdf">Vizio's reply to SFC's response to Vizio's Motion for Summary Judgment</a></li>

  <li><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/Transcript_Full_Vizios_MSJ_HearingDeptC-33.231005.pdf">Full transcript from the hearing</a></li>

</ul>

<h3>MEDIA CONTACT</h3>

You can reach out media team at <a href="mailto:media@sfconservancy.org">&lt;media@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a></p>

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