The FSF FAQ explicitly states that internal use within a corporation does not count as distribution. It's one legal entity and can't violate copyleft on its own. A gray area would be a subsidiary or joint venture sharing with a parent.
That's really interesting, because if a corporation bought a physical book, scanned it, and distributed it internally that would be a clear violation of copyright law.
GPL is copyleft (copies authorized by default) until you violate the terms. Then normal copyright law applies and it's the same as an unauthorized book copy.
> The FSF FAQ explicitly states that internal use within a corporation does not count as distribution.
It's probably a good thing on balance since it's one less barrier to companies using code under the license, but considering companies and their assets (including their internal tools) can be bought and sold, I'd personally consider that distribution enough.
