> CoPilot using code to train a model doesn’t violate any software licenses. The argument GitHub advanced for this was absolutely ridiculous: that code stops b

> CoPilot using code to train a model doesn’t violate any software licenses. The argument GitHub advanced for this was absolutely ridiculous: that code stops being code when CoPilot analyzes it, qualifies only as text while CoPilot analyzes or suggests it, but magically turns back into code if/when the user incorporates the suggested text into their code base. The real argument GitHub made was much more credible: the CEO came on here and said something like "the legality of code reuse is an interesting new area of law and we welcome the debate," which in lawyer terms means "we have smart, well-informed lawyers, and we can easily get these cases in front of dipshit judges who don't understand technology." It's an interesting product, and I hear good things about its utility in practice. But the legal argument is utter nonsense. CoPilot definitely violates many software licenses, and knowingly so.