Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
theregister.com
Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
1–10 of 505 posts
Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#2copilot was apparently snipping license bearing comments, and applying "semantic" variations of the remaining code.
i would package the entire code as a series of comments, [ideally this would be snipped by the pliagarists] leaving a snippet of example code that no one of sound mind would allow to execute, being proffered by copilot.
Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#3This is pretty interesting, and I have conflicted feelings about the (seemingly obvious) outcome of this trial.
I wonder, if MS and OpenAI win, does that mean it will be legal for anyone to take the leaked source code for a proprietary product, train an LLM on it, and then ask the LLM to emit a version of it that is different enough to avoid copyright infringement?
That would be quite the double-edged sword for proprietary software companies.
Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#4> The anonymous programmers have repeatedly insisted Copilot could, and would, generate code identical to what they had written themselves, which is a key pillar of their lawsuit since there is an identicality requirement for their DMCA claim. However, Judge Tigar earlier ruled the plaintiffs hadn't actually demonstrated instances of this happening, which prompted a dismissal of the claim with a chance to amend it.
It sounds fair from how the article describes it
Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#5This is pretty interesting, and I have conflicted feelings about the (seemingly obvious) outcome of this trial. I wonder, if MS and OpenAI win, does that mean it will be legal for anyone to take the leaked source code for a proprietary product, train an LLM on it, and then ask the LLM to emit a version of it that is different enough to avoid copyright infringement? That would be quite the double-edged sword for propr…
I suspect that this is exactly what will happen; not just with code, but also prose and artwork.
Someone is likely to design an LLM that is specifically trained to do exactly that.
Lots of money to be made...
Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#6copilot was apparently snipping license bearing comments, and applying "semantic" variations of the remaining code. i would package the entire code as a series of comments, [ideally this would be snipped by the pliagarists] leaving a snippet of example code that no one of sound mind would allow to execute, being proffered by copilot.
> of sound mind
That's a reach, these days...
I'm seeing some really ... interesting ... behavior, being exhibited by folks that, at first blush, I think are kids, just out of bootcamp, but, on further inspection, turn out to be middle-aged professionals.
I really think Teh Internets Tubes have been rather corrosive to collective mental health.
Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#7copilot was apparently snipping license bearing comments, and applying "semantic" variations of the remaining code. i would package the entire code as a series of comments, [ideally this would be snipped by the pliagarists] leaving a snippet of example code that no one of sound mind would allow to execute, being proffered by copilot.
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Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#8What were the plaintiffs even thinking when they submitted a claim based on identicality without being able to produce a single instance of copilot generating a verbatim copy. Even the research they submitted was unable to make a claim any stronger than "it's possibly in theory but we've never seen it".
Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#9This kind of argument makes me feel like it also supports the abolition of patents: eventually multiple other people will come up with the same obvious solution, which becomes obvious once a person spends enough time looking at a problem.
Re: Judge dismisses DMCA copyright claim in GitHub Copilot suit
#10This is pretty interesting, and I have conflicted feelings about the (seemingly obvious) outcome of this trial. I wonder, if MS and OpenAI win, does that mean it will be legal for anyone to take the leaked source code for a proprietary product, train an LLM on it, and then ask the LLM to emit a version of it that is different enough to avoid copyright infringement? That would be quite the double-edged sword for propr…
Following existing law and applying reasonable expectations, I would point to the old adage "intent is 9/10ths of the law".
It would probably be legal to do this, as long as no one could reasonably show that you intentionally trained the LLM on said leaked source code with the intent to reproduce the product.
Of course, civil suits could be another matter entirely. If you pick a product to rip off that's owned by a multi-billion dollar company, all that can save you is the ethical limits of their legal team's consciences.