[anon2020dot00]

If someone bought a copy of an educational book like "Learning Go" and used some code snippets from it in their own product, that's fair use. But if someone released the book as their own product titled "Learning Go Better" then that is a clear violation.

For open-source projects, CoPilot is in the realm of fair-use for snippets but it can be mis-used just like Github can be mis-used if someone blatantly copies a repository.

[intorio]

Fair use only applies in certain contexts, of which writing commercial software is not one of. 'Snippets' are not fair use and it is shocking how many people here think they are.

[anon2020dot00]

People get snippets from Stack Overflow all the time and usually there is no concern whether it is properly attributed or not.

I'd argue that people who open-source code expect other people to learn from it in a small way of snippets and that constitutes fair-use.

[foldr]

Code in Stack Overflow answers is explicitly licensed under a permissive license:

https://stackoverflow.com/help/licensing

Copying code samples from a copyrighted work for use in a commercial product is not fair use.

[forgotpwd16]

>CoPilot is in the realm of fair-use for snippets but it can be mis-used just like Github can be mis-used if someone blatantly copies a repository.

Important difference is you don't know where your Copilot snippets come from.

[P5fRxh5kUvp2th]

If X and Y, then my point is valid!

But if either of those are not true, then the GENERAL point is true and your point is not.

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Gais, gais, I downloaded the code using an automation tool called a browser, so it's fair use and not infringing!

yay for technicalities!

[anon2020dot00]

As a software developer, we deal with specific points rather than generalities. Am I doing something illegal or is it fair use? That's the important point to keep in mind and I assume most of Hacker News audience are software devs.

[P5fRxh5kUvp2th]

You also deal with the real world and real people, neither of which operate in binary.

Plenty of people over the years have attempted to skirt the law by putting a proxy in the middle and as such, plenty of clarifications have happened that it doesn't matter.

MS's stance here is specifically that it's the responsibility of the person/company using copilot to ensure the code isn't infringing, it is NOT their stance that the code itself is not infringing.

Their stance is that using it as TRAINING DATA is fair use, so they themselves hold no liability, only their users.

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It's similar to chicken factories claiming they hold no liability for employing illegal immigrants because those illegal immigrants are the ones who chose to work there. And that they also hold no liability if they go through a 3rd party that exclusively hires illegal immigrants. The law very clearly refutes both stances.