5 ms·

Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

112 points by anm89 4y ago

klabnikamajad 4y ago
[dead]
rahimnathwani 4y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27424195 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27424195 4022 points|raxod502|2 years ago|1274 comments
- anm89 4y ago
  Reposted because they are recruiting on the front page
- psychphysic 4y ago
  An I interesting case of playing possum and winning.
bitwize 4y ago
IANAL, but the way copyright works in the USA is based on what's known as the inverse ratio rule. Generally, two things are required to be established in order to be liable for copyright infringement: access and substantial similarity. But the more access you have, the less substantially similar you need to be to be liable. Replit may well have been within their rights to sue this person for creating a product like theirs after he was an intern at their company... irrespective of how many other similar products were out there. His greater access may have lowered the threshold to the point where any similar competing product of his may have incurred liability.
- tomkarho 4y ago
  IANAL either but I doubt they would have sued over copyright when there's probably much "better" options. Their "top lawyer" would have probably found some kind of predatory IP transfer ("every idea you've had during your time with us is ours in perpetuity" kind of thing) or non-compete clause in the intern contract. These kind of clauses I hear are SOP and I doubt this guy had the foresight fresh out of school to scrutinize the contract and negotiate anything better.
Shindi 4y ago
You worked for a company and then made something really similar? idk, if what the author did was right or wrong legally, but sounds like a dick move. Just build literally anything else.
- Reki 4y ago
  I could see this if he made something dramatically more complex than just running python online. The author shows pretty clearly that nothing he is working on isn't already out there.
squarefoot 4y ago
Interesting link posted in the 2021 thread that went almost unnoticed: https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/amjad-joins-codecademy/ https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/amjad-joins-codeca...

112 points by anm89 4y ago

[dead]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27424195 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27424195 4022 points|raxod502|2 years ago|1274 comments

anm89 4y ago
Reposted because they are recruiting on the front page
psychphysic 4y ago
An I interesting case of playing possum and winning.

bitwize 4y ago

IANAL, but the way copyright works in the USA is based on what's known as the inverse ratio rule. Generally, two things are required to be established in order to be liable for copyright infringement: access and substantial similarity. But the more access you have, the less substantially similar you need to be to be liable. Replit may well have been within their rights to sue this person for creating a product like theirs after he was an intern at their company... irrespective of how many other similar products were out there. His greater access may have lowered the threshold to the point where any similar competing product of his may have incurred liability.

tomkarho 4y ago
IANAL either but I doubt they would have sued over copyright when there's probably much "better" options. Their "top lawyer" would have probably found some kind of predatory IP transfer ("every idea you've had during your time with us is ours in perpetuity" kind of thing) or non-compete clause in the intern contract. These kind of clauses I hear are SOP and I doubt this guy had the foresight fresh out of school to scrutinize the contract and negotiate anything better.

Shindi 4y ago

You worked for a company and then made something really similar? idk, if what the author did was right or wrong legally, but sounds like a dick move. Just build literally anything else.

Reki 4y ago
I could see this if he made something dramatically more complex than just running python online. The author shows pretty clearly that nothing he is working on isn't already out there.

squarefoot 4y ago

Interesting link posted in the 2021 thread that went almost unnoticed: https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/amjad-joins-codecademy/ https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/amjad-joins-codeca...