IANAL

I read that you can't distribute code that has no license.

Why can't you do that?

Because copyright law says so - it reserves the right to copy to the author.

Will someone punish you for that if author won't sue anybody?

I believe depends on whether you fall under a criminal or civil violation. http://www.chillingeffects.org/copyright/faq.cgi#QID885

Will his descendants inherit the right to sue distributor?

Yes, it's pretty common for estates (of which the descendants are usually the executors) to sue distributors.

Mind-bending. Especially condition for violation to be criminal:

1) for commercial advantage or private financial gain

or

3) by distributing copyrighted work where the infringer knew or should have known the work was intended for public distribution.

Does that also cover non-American authors? And distribution of works of American authors abroad?

> I read that you can't distribute code that has no license.

You can. It's just that unless otherwise stated, the owner has the copyright in most legislation. Without the license, if you derive from someone's code, he can sue you stating he never granted you the right to use his work.

Code is, generally speaking, copyrighted. Copying something copyrighted without permission is copyright infringement. A license is one way to get permission in writing.

My guess is the latter, but I'd love for a properly informed individual to answer this.