[License-review] For Approval: OpenMDW License Agreement, versions 1.1 (OpenMDW-1.1)

[Josh Berkus]

On 9/11/26 12:23 PM, Pamela Chestek wrote:
>> Speaking as a software developer, accidental infringing copying 
>> happens all the time.
> 
> Can you explain how?

Sure!  Here's a few ways I've seen folks accidentally copy code in a way 
that's infringing, although most of the time nobody does anything about it:

- Stack overflow
- GenAI & Autocomplete
- Copying code from a private project to a public one, forgetting where 
you got it in the first place
- Copying vendored code without attribution
- Thinking that some code is too short/obvious to be copyrightable 
(because most software developers are armchair IP lawyers)
- Conference presentations & tutorials
- Forgetting that some old code you wrote was under contract and doesn't 
belong to you
- Accidentally copying code from one project to another because you're 
working on both at the same time

Substantial software projects are made from thousands of lines of code 
and hundreds of modules assembled over time by people who are generally 
working on more than one project concurrently. Accidental (and 
intentional) copying happens constantly.  It's just that the vast 
majority of it isn't worth prosecuting.

-- 
Josh Berkus