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by CharlesW 1810 days ago
> This means that, for most open-source projects, code generated by Github co-pilot is, right now, NOT acceptable in the project.

For this scenario, how is using Co-Pilot generated code different from using code based on sample code, Stack Overflow answers, etc.?

2 comments

I'd say that it depends on the license; for StackOverflow, it's CC-BY-SA 4.0 [1]. For sample code, that would depend on the license of the original documentation.

My point is: when I'm copying code from a source with an explicit license, I know whether I'm allowed to copy it. If I pick code from co-pilot, I have no idea (until tested by law in my jurisdiction) whether said code is public domain, AGPL, proprietary, infringing on some company's copyright.

[1] https://stackoverflow.com/legal/terms-of-service#licensing

That makes sense, thank you.
A number of company, including Google and probably Microsoft forbid copying code from Stack Overflow because there is no explicit license
TIL, thank you!