Plus, Novell knew about these licenses, so the principle of latches would
likely preclude any legal action as well... Or at least make it more difficult
to do so. So even if the copyright didn't transfer, and the rights to sublicense
were somehow exceeded their grant and someone wanted to make trouble,
it would be a very tricky case.
For the benefit of those of us who don't know legal jargon, "laches" is a legal principle whereby a court can deny relief to a claimant with an otherwise valid claim when the party bringing the claim unreasonably delayed asserting the claim to the detriment of the opposing party.
In this case, Novell knew about the SCO and Caldera "archaic Unix" licenses being issued but did nothing at the time. Were they to try to sue years later to block use of those licenses, the party being sued could invoke the principle of laches and claim that Novell knew about the licenses, did nothing at the time, and it's now too late to bring the claim before the court.
-Paul W.