Microsoft's GitHub Copilot programming assistant has been complained about: changing its tone and rewriting public code to avoid copyright

News on June 12, when friends from IT House used AI such as ChatGPT, they probably all typed "Rewrite this sentence in a different tone...". As a result, Microsoft also rectified this issue.

A current complaint file against Microsoft and GitHub states that the Copilot programming assistant in GitHub will perform some "tonal rewriting" of "public code" and then output it to avoid copyright charges.

The lawsuit was originally filed in November last year by four anonymous ("J. Doe") plaintiffs, who claimed that Copilot used AI to train public code in a manner that violated copyright law and software licensing requirements. In the end, the code of others is formally "appropriated". Microsoft and GitHub tried to dismiss the case, but ultimately the judge decided that the case needed more time and allowed the plaintiffs to add more evidentiary details.

▲ Picture source court document

It is reported that GitHub launched a filter called “Suggestions matching public code” in July last year. When the filter When enabled, GitHub Copilot will perform a "duplication check" of about 150 characters between "code suggestions" and "public code" on GitHub. If the "duplication check rate" is too high, the output content will not be provided to the user .

The plaintiff believes that the filter is basically worthless because the filter only checks for exact matches and cannot be detected if slightly modified. And GitHub attempts to change Copilot's output through "tonal rewriting" The content makes it appear that the content is not directly copied to avoid copyright and licensing infringements.

IT House learned after inquiry that at present, this complaint document lists a series of charges against Microsoft and GitHub:

• Violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Violation of Open Source License
• Unfair Enrichment
• Unfair Competition
• Selling Licensed Materials in Violation of GitHub's Policies
• Intentional Interference with Future Economic Relationships
• Negligently Interfering with Future Economic Relationships.

In response to these accusations, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "We firmly believe that artificial intelligence will change the way the world builds software, thereby increasing productivity; and most importantly, making developers happier." We believe Copilot complies with applicable laws, and we have been committed to innovating Copilot responsibly from the beginning. We will continue to invest in and advocate for the future of AI-driven developer experiences."

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