--- title: GitHub Copilot and open source laundering | daily.dev description: Drew DeVault, founder of a GitHub competitor, argues that GitHub Copilot violates free and open source software licenses by training on GPL, MIT, BSD, and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-and-open-source-laundering-8tnnu4ghw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: GitHub Copilot and open source laundering | daily.dev og:description: Drew DeVault, founder of a GitHub competitor, argues that GitHub Copilot violates free and open source software licenses by training on GPL, MIT, BSD, and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-and-open-source-laundering-8tnnu4ghw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/8tNnu4gHw.png og:image:alt: GitHub Copilot and open source laundering og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # GitHub Copilot and open source laundering **[Drew DeVault](https://daily.dev/sources/drewdevault)** · 11 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Drew DeVault, founder of a GitHub competitor, argues that GitHub Copilot violates free and open source software licenses by training on GPL, MIT, BSD, and other licensed code without respecting their terms. He contends that the ML model constitutes a derivative work of its training inputs, meaning any code it generates may carry license obligations that users unknowingly inherit. He provides a concrete example of Copilot reproducing a verbatim GPL-licensed function with incorrect attribution. DeVault offers specific recommendations to GitHub — including opt-out mechanisms, license tracking, removal of copyleft code from the model, and compensation for copyright holders — and warns of potential class action litigation. He also advises FOSS maintainers to leave GitHub, update their licenses to clarify that ML training constitutes a derivative use, and avoid adding outright prohibitions that would make their software non-free. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [GitHub Copilot's policy for AI training: A governance wake-up call](https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-s-policy-for-ai-training-a-governance-wake-up-call-33i8ogzs0) · GitLab · 10 upvotes · 3 comments --- Tags: [#machine-learning](https://daily.dev/tags/machine-learning), [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-and-open-source-laundering-8tnnu4ghw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"GitHub Copilot and open source laundering","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-and-open-source-laundering-8tnnu4ghw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-and-open-source-laundering-8tnnu4ghw"},"datePublished":"2026-03-31T12:28:11.809Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T12:38:56.958Z","description":"Drew DeVault, founder of a GitHub competitor, argues that GitHub Copilot violates free and open source software licenses by training on GPL, MIT, BSD, and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--58gMhC4P--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2012","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--58gMhC4P--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2012","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Drew DeVault","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Drew DeVault","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--BGhGBu0U--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774960025/logos/drewdevault?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/drewdevault"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-and-open-source-laundering-8tnnu4ghw","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"machine-learning,github","timeRequired":"PT11M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Drew DeVault","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/drewdevault"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"GitHub Copilot and open source laundering"}]} ```