DeVault: GitHub Copilot and open source laundering [LWN.net]

DeVault: GitHub Copilot and open source laundering

Posted Jun 24, 2022 21:21 UTC (Fri) by rgmoore (✭ supporter ✭, #75)
In reply to: DeVault: GitHub Copilot and open source laundering by Wol
Parent article: DeVault: GitHub Copilot and open source laundering

PJ was quite clear that given a choice between a broad or narrow ruling, the Judge would opt for the narrow ruling every time.

But that applies only if the broad and narrow ruling turn out the same way. In that case, the judge will usually rule on the narrowest possible grounds that results in the outcome they think is right for the case. If the broad and narrow grounds for the ruling have opposite results, the judge has to go based on which one seems to be a better reading of the law and situation, not just on narrow versus broad. More generally, narrow vs broad is something that's more true of low-level judges than of higher-level ones. Even if individual judges make narrow rulings, it's likely that different judges will rule differently. That will create uncertainty and force a higher court to rule on the matter, creating a broader ruling. That's the way these things usually go.

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DeVault: GitHub Copilot and open source laundering

Posted Jun 25, 2022 17:05 UTC (Sat) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link]

> But that applies only if the broad and narrow ruling turn out the same way.

Where does that idea comes from? Narrow ruling is used precisely to ensure the possibility of broad ruling (made in a different case by a different judge later) to proclaim the opposite outcome!

> If the broad and narrow grounds for the ruling have opposite results, the judge has to go based on which one seems to be a better reading of the law and situation, not just on narrow versus broad.

Narrow is almost always better. Because, well, it's narrow. It describes the situation more precisely. The only save you can have is to proclaim that narrow reading is so narrow it's not applicable to your case at all.

That often happens with patents (judge is presented with half-dozen of patents which can be, theoretically, be treated as prior art and eliminate the patent completely, but 9 times out of 10 judge doesn't do that, but only just proclaim that yes, patent is still valid, just not applicable for your case).

> That's the way these things usually go.

I would say it's the way these things usually don't go. 99% of time decision doesn't reach high enough courts to decide anything definitively. Usually it takes dozens of cases and decades of litigation for that to happen.