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It’s possible for there to be patent encumbered algorithms in open source code though. A license like Apache will contain a free license to use them to use/dist
by tuckerman 4y ago
It’s possible for there to be patent encumbered algorithms in open source code though. A license like Apache will contain a free license to use them to use/distribute the open source work… which I’m not sure would transfer if copilot happens to plop some unlicensed, unattributed violating code in your code base.
- ghaff 4y agoAt least some lawyers [1] will argue that code under an open source license like MIT has an implicit patent grant even absent specific verbiage. [1] https://opensource.com/article/18/3/patent-grant-mit-license https://opensource.com/article/18/3/patent-grant-mit-license
- tuckerman 4y agoIt would be interesting to see if this sort of implicit grant, or even the explicit ones, extend to using the patent outside the context of the original work. My main concern here is that copilot itself might not be illegal but that it is causing otherwise well-meaning developers to put themselves at legal risk.