[thesuperbigfrog]

>> Yes, software copyright and patents are a mistake.

Richard Stallman would agree, but there are many of us who make a living writing software.

Is software valuable enough that people will pay money for it?

If you write original software that solves a problem, shouldn't you be able to license it how you want and profit from it?

You are welcome to license the software you create how you want. Let me license the software I create how I want.

If I dual license my software as GPL and commercial and GitHub Copilot reproduces my GPLed code without attribution and without the license, how it that not copyright violation?

[rattlesnakedave]

Do you find meaningful distinction between an individual reading your code and copying patterns vs an AI model doing the same?

[thesuperbigfrog]

No, provided that both give proper attribution and follow the license the code is released under.

[rattlesnakedave]

That's a hilarious expectation. How often do you give attribution to inventors of patterns you use in your software?

[thesuperbigfrog]

>> How often do you give attribution to inventors of patterns you use in your software?

If GitHub Copilot was only "copying patterns" then it would be a lot harder to call it copyright violation and misappropriation of existing code.

And yet that is exactly what GitHub Copilot has been accused of doing: recreating copyrighted works without attribution and in violation of the licenses that the code was released under:

https://githubcopilotlitigation.com/pdf/1-0-github_complaint...

https://twitter.com/DocSparse/status/1581461734665367554

>> That's a hilarious expectation.

Only if you think lawsuits are funny. Cease and desist orders and damages show that they are no laughing matter.

[boxed]

Stallman is pretty hard FOR copyright. The strong guarantees of "free software" is 100% based on strong copyright law.

[cauefcr]

That's not what i get from reading him https://www.globalnerdy.com/2007/07/06/richard-m-stallman-co...

My favorite part:

>Copyright Now

>Now with digital data and computer networks, it much easier for us to copy and manipulate information

> Digital technology has changed the effect of copyright law

> Copyright used to be a power that was:

> wielded by authors

> over publishers

> to yield benefits to the public

> Now it’s a power that is:

> wielded by publishers

> to punish the public

> in the name of the authors

> Now the public wants to copy and share — what would a democratic government do?