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You didn't read the relevant part of the complaint. It starts on document page 14 (PDF page 17). There's a clear footnote: > Due to the nature of Codex, Copi

You didn't read the relevant part of the complaint. It starts on document page 14 (PDF page 17). There's a clear footnote: > Due to the nature of Codex, Copilot, and AI in general, Plaintiffs cannot be certain these examples would produce the same results if attempted following additional trainings of Codex and/or Copilot. The offending solution from the AI included extra lines that are reasonably understood to come straight from Eloquent JavaScript: console.log(isEven(50)); // → true console.log(isEven(75)); // → false console.log(isEven(‐1)); // → ??

williamcotton 4y ago
Sure, those comments might be considered infringement, but that's from an earlier version of Codex. Copilot does not return that code. The complaint even says so.
- TAForObvReasons 4y ago
  There are many public examples of that same effect happening (for example https://twitter.com/mitsuhiko/status/1410886329924194309 https://twitter.com/mitsuhiko/status/1410886329924194309 ), and the legal team has been soliciting for more examples. Those examples are likely to come out if it does go to trial.
  - williamcotton 4y ago
    If this legal team was interested in this going to trial you think they would have put together a stronger case instead of risking that it won’t be heard. There’s not even a single mention of any established legal doctrines around copyright and software, such as abstract-filter-compare, idea-expression dichotomy, etc.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - freejazz 4y ago
      It's a complaint, not a brief.
- joe_the_user 4y ago
  If a software systematically engages in copyright violation but only haphazardly corrects those violations, those haphazard correct aren't evidence the problem has vanished.
  - zarzavat 4y ago
    If Copilot is committing widespread infringements of their copyright, then surely they will be able to find examples of such infringement to submit in their lawsuit. I assume they want some kind of broad relief, such as an injunction to take down copilot. They are not going to get it, they are not going to get anything at all, if they can’t even provide examples of violating code.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - sangnoir 4y ago
      > ...then surely they will be able to find examples of such infringement to submit in their lawsuit Perhaps that is why they are reaching out to potential class members > if they can’t even provide examples of violating code. This is the very beginning of a very long process. I wouldn't rule out a settlement where class members get $10-100, which is a common resolution for class action suits.
    - afiori 4y ago
      In filing a lawsuits you make plausible allegations and claims, it is not the place to present evidence.
    - belorn 4y ago
      During the piratebay case, the prosecutor only had to illustrate that it was likely (as in, convinced the judges) that copyright infringement had occurred. They did this by showing the top 100 torrents. They did not have to prove with certainty that the top 100 torrent actually was used by people. The fact that the names of movies and games showed up on the list was enough to convince the judges. The lawyers defending the founders did try to make the argument that no infringement had been proven, and that the list itself was not proof of any infringement. It was just a list on a website, and they even presented evidence that the counter on the list was algorithm faulty. The judges was not convinced and applied the common sense approach that taken as a whole, it was not believable that no infringement had occurred by the website given the context of the site (the name, the top list, the overall perspective of how the site was designed).
ALittleLight 4y ago
This seems like an incredibly trivial example. If I remembered that example subconsciously, and used it myself somewhere, would that be an infringement of intellectual property? In any large code base how many such infringements are there? Many? Should we sue every software company on this premise?
poulpy123 4y ago
I'm all to punish GitHub copilot if it produce copyrighted code, but this example of is even is absolutely trivial and has no right to be copyrighted

williamcotton 4y ago

Sure, those comments might be considered infringement, but that's from an earlier version of Codex. Copilot does not return that code. The complaint even says so.

TAForObvReasons 4y ago
There are many public examples of that same effect happening (for example https://twitter.com/mitsuhiko/status/1410886329924194309 https://twitter.com/mitsuhiko/status/1410886329924194309 ), and the legal team has been soliciting for more examples. Those examples are likely to come out if it does go to trial.
- williamcotton 4y ago
  If this legal team was interested in this going to trial you think they would have put together a stronger case instead of risking that it won’t be heard. There’s not even a single mention of any established legal doctrines around copyright and software, such as abstract-filter-compare, idea-expression dichotomy, etc.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - freejazz 4y ago
    It's a complaint, not a brief.
joe_the_user 4y ago
If a software systematically engages in copyright violation but only haphazardly corrects those violations, those haphazard correct aren't evidence the problem has vanished.
- zarzavat 4y ago
  If Copilot is committing widespread infringements of their copyright, then surely they will be able to find examples of such infringement to submit in their lawsuit. I assume they want some kind of broad relief, such as an injunction to take down copilot. They are not going to get it, they are not going to get anything at all, if they can’t even provide examples of violating code.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - sangnoir 4y ago
    > ...then surely they will be able to find examples of such infringement to submit in their lawsuit Perhaps that is why they are reaching out to potential class members > if they can’t even provide examples of violating code. This is the very beginning of a very long process. I wouldn't rule out a settlement where class members get $10-100, which is a common resolution for class action suits.
  - afiori 4y ago
    In filing a lawsuits you make plausible allegations and claims, it is not the place to present evidence.
  - belorn 4y ago
    During the piratebay case, the prosecutor only had to illustrate that it was likely (as in, convinced the judges) that copyright infringement had occurred. They did this by showing the top 100 torrents. They did not have to prove with certainty that the top 100 torrent actually was used by people. The fact that the names of movies and games showed up on the list was enough to convince the judges. The lawyers defending the founders did try to make the argument that no infringement had been proven, and that the list itself was not proof of any infringement. It was just a list on a website, and they even presented evidence that the counter on the list was algorithm faulty. The judges was not convinced and applied the common sense approach that taken as a whole, it was not believable that no infringement had occurred by the website given the context of the site (the name, the top list, the overall perspective of how the site was designed).

ALittleLight 4y ago

This seems like an incredibly trivial example. If I remembered that example subconsciously, and used it myself somewhere, would that be an infringement of intellectual property? In any large code base how many such infringements are there? Many? Should we sue every software company on this premise?

poulpy123 4y ago

I'm all to punish GitHub copilot if it produce copyrighted code, but this example of is even is absolutely trivial and has no right to be copyrighted