3 ms·

Not until there's a setting that can guarantee the automcomplete is based on verifiably license-unencumbered source that is automatically tracked in some kind o

Not until there's a setting that can guarantee the automcomplete is based on verifiably license-unencumbered source that is automatically tracked in some kind of sourcemap that tells me which parts of "the code I didn't write" comes from which other project and file inside that project. Until then, copilot is a giant liability that ensures I can't use it for code that my company ends up owning, nor can I contribute code I write with it to literally any open source project because in a very real sense: I didn't write it. I just assembled it from parts unknown, and those parts may end up being lawsuits.

thaeli 4y ago
I would also be comfortable with a service that was willing to broadly indemnify me as the customer from copyright and patent claims arising from code generated by their service. I doubt that will ever happen either.
honkdaddy 4y ago
As a hypothetical, what would that case actually look like? I'm suing you because I have a strong belief that part of the codebase of your personal project was assembled from code I wrote and didn't license permissively, so now I'm claiming ownership? Obviously IANAL so this is largely conjecture, but until we _actually_ see how this would play out in court, I'm leaning towards this being less of a legal issue than folks here act like. For personal projects, I'd say the likelihood of some other engineer reading your code, noticing a similarity or duplication, and dragging you to court for it is near 0.
- TheRealPomax 4y ago
  As hypetheticals: - "you were hired to write code for us, not to use an autocomplete service that makes us liable for both copyright and patent lawsuits, I hope you like getting fired." - "as per this project's license, we can only take code on board that you contributed under our license, but an audit shows that your PR/MRs contain tons of GPL/MIT/Whatever licensed code instead. We're going to have to back all of that out, and we're going to revoke your contributor status" - etc. If you don't know where the code in your autocomplete comes from (and copilot can autocomplete large swathes of code) then literally anything that comes out of "you didn't write this code" may apply. From fraud (depending on what contract you signed) to trademark infringement, to license violations, to even just simply misrepresenting your skills to an employer. As with all things, it's a sliding scale, but just because the majority of incidents will be on the bening part of the spectrum doesn't mean the litigating part doesn't exist, and that's what your legal department plans for. Work for a big company? Good bet you're not allowed to use copilot. And depending on the company, not even "for your personal projects" because you might accidentally read someone else's license encumbered code that you would not have come up with yourself and may now open your employer up to "you stole our ideas instead of properly crediting/paying for licenses". Copilot is a legal nightmare.

thaeli 4y ago

I would also be comfortable with a service that was willing to broadly indemnify me as the customer from copyright and patent claims arising from code generated by their service. I doubt that will ever happen either.

honkdaddy 4y ago

As a hypothetical, what would that case actually look like? I'm suing you because I have a strong belief that part of the codebase of your personal project was assembled from code I wrote and didn't license permissively, so now I'm claiming ownership? Obviously IANAL so this is largely conjecture, but until we _actually_ see how this would play out in court, I'm leaning towards this being less of a legal issue than folks here act like. For personal projects, I'd say the likelihood of some other engineer reading your code, noticing a similarity or duplication, and dragging you to court for it is near 0.

TheRealPomax 4y ago
As hypetheticals: - "you were hired to write code for us, not to use an autocomplete service that makes us liable for both copyright and patent lawsuits, I hope you like getting fired." - "as per this project's license, we can only take code on board that you contributed under our license, but an audit shows that your PR/MRs contain tons of GPL/MIT/Whatever licensed code instead. We're going to have to back all of that out, and we're going to revoke your contributor status" - etc. If you don't know where the code in your autocomplete comes from (and copilot can autocomplete large swathes of code) then literally anything that comes out of "you didn't write this code" may apply. From fraud (depending on what contract you signed) to trademark infringement, to license violations, to even just simply misrepresenting your skills to an employer. As with all things, it's a sliding scale, but just because the majority of incidents will be on the bening part of the spectrum doesn't mean the litigating part doesn't exist, and that's what your legal department plans for. Work for a big company? Good bet you're not allowed to use copilot. And depending on the company, not even "for your personal projects" because you might accidentally read someone else's license encumbered code that you would not have come up with yourself and may now open your employer up to "you stole our ideas instead of properly crediting/paying for licenses". Copilot is a legal nightmare.