Re:Tool to convert copyrighted music into fair use
by wlesieutre on Saturday July 10, 2021 @07:56PM
(#27797336)
> This is assuming that the code it produces is a derivative, which I don't think would be much of a stretch
I don't think that's easily settled. Is the code I write a derivative work of all prior code that I've learned from? The difference (IMO) is that Copilot has a much more precise memory than I do; I couldn't recall the exact text of a code example that I've encountered repeatedly even if I wanted to.
Re:Tool to convert copyrighted music into fair use
by ric2b on Saturday July 17, 2021 @07:32PM
(#27869642)
> I couldn't recall the exact text of a code example that I've encountered repeatedly even if I wanted to.
If you could it would be copyright infringement anyway.
Re:Tool to convert copyrighted music into fair use
by orwin on Saturday July 10, 2021 @07:56PM
(#27797338)
easy solution: license all the code you write with copilot under AGPL or GPLv3, and you're good.
Re:Tool to convert copyrighted music into fair use
by martindevans on Saturday July 10, 2021 @11:33PM
(#27798279)
Not at all, you'd still be violating all the non-gpl licenses. Just because GPL is more restrictive doesn't mean it somehow supercedes all other licenses!
Re:Tool to convert copyrighted music into fair use
by cassonmars on Saturday July 10, 2021 @08:09PM
(#27797398)
Not quite, there are far more aggressive licenses on repositories on GitHub, such as SSPL, which in theory by providing the SSPL licensed code, Co-Pilot should be open sourced under the same license to comply.
The first is if GitHub had a license to distribute the code they have learned on. This is assuming that the code it produces is a derivative, which I don't think would be much of a stretch. For this I think most of the licenses that are used, GPL MIT etc, allow for someone to distribute in such a way.
The second is the user of copilot. They would be getting and distributing code where they wouldn't know the original license, but that wouldn't be a viable defense of infringement. To actually comply with most licenses they would have to follow the requirements.
In both cases I don't know if a fair use would really apply. Maybe GitHub could stretch the research aspect, but if you just use the code in your product there is no fair use.