[zdragnar]

If the person didn't have your permission or permission from the license to agree to github's terms, then you sue the person who uploaded it to GitHub.

You don't get to go after GitHub because you have no contractual relationship with them. At best, you can get an injunction forcing them to take it down, though getting them to un-train copilot may not be feasible. At best you'd get a small cash offer, since you're unlikely to be able to justify any damages in a suit.

[pton_xd]

> then you sue the person who uploaded it to GitHub.

> You don't get to go after GitHub because you have no contractual relationship with them

What makes you say that? If someone eg uploads my copyrighted work to YouTube, I file a DMCA notice with YouTube to stop distributing my work. If YT ignores the notice then I can pursue them with a lawsuit.

How is this situation different?

[singleshot_]

DMCA explicitly gives you a cause of action against the party who does not properly comply with your request. GP asserts that you lack a cause of action against GitHub before they fail to comply with DMCA but I’m not certain I agree.

[stefan_]

DMCA is a narrow protection for operators of public websites like GitHub. I don't see what it has to do with GitHub taking the data submitted to it with dubious sourcing and developing their CoPilot whatever based on it. That has nothing to do with the privileges in DMCA.

[singleshot_]

That’s right. You have lost the thread of what we are talking about: causes of action based on privity vs those created by statute.

[dredmorbius]

17 USC §504 says otherwise:

... the copyright owner may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages for all infringements ... in a sum of not less than $750 or more than $30,000. ... in a case where the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000.

<https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/504>

The issue isn't contract. It's copyright infringement.

[201984]

So hypothetically, if a developer publishes GPL software on Codeberg, and someone uploads it to GitHub, could the original developer file takedowns against the Github copy?

I'm curious if Github's ToS make uploading GPL software you don't own a copyright violation.

[votepaunchy]

No, because the GPL is already more permissive than the GitHub TOS.