3 ms·
Fascinating, thank you! I imagine this would make it even more likely that large orgs would ban the use of VS Code.
by katmannthree 5y ago
Fascinating, thank you! I imagine this would make it even more likely that large orgs would ban the use of VS Code.
- nnvvhh 5y agoYa, I'd be curious to hear how orgs are thinking about it. It could be that the risk of a copyright judgment against the org is outweighed by the efficiency gains from Copilot. The risk involved has an element of discoverability – how the heck is the OSS developer whose small snippet of code gets sucked into a closed-source project going to learn of the infringement? Other stuff within copyright makes infringement of a small Copilot snippet less likely too, and the recent Google v. Oracle decision reinforced the fact that copyright is an awkward fit within copyright and may sometimes get less protection than things like fictional books. Fair use also comes in here, too; remember something as "egregious" as Google copying 37 Java packages worth of package / class / method declarations into Android was held a fair use. Declaring code is sort of special because it's more like an interface, but the Court really reinforced the notion that it likes cool new technology stuff that opens new markets, makes new products, etc., and a fair use finding for small snippets of code is in line with that as adapting copyright doctrine in the face of tech changes like AI / ML.