September 8, 2023
Microsoft has announced that it will defend paying customers in copyright lawsuits if they are sued for using its Copilot AI tool. The company said that it is offering this commitment to address customer concerns about the potential legal risks of using Copilot.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, and Hossein Nowbar, the company’s chief lawyer, announced and clarified that customers using Copilot services and the output they generate need not fret about copyright claims. This commitment encompasses Microsoft 365 Copilot, Bing Chat Enterprise, and GitHub Copilot.
Microsoft’s protection covers only those customers using the paid versions of its tools and abiding by content filters and guardrails integrated into the products. Users of the free versions of Bing or GitHub Copilot are not included in this safeguard.
According to Microsoft, Copilot is not likely to infringe on copyright, but it is offering the copyright commitment to reassure customers. The commitment applies to paying customers who use Copilot in accordance with the terms of service.
The sources for this piece include an article in TheRegister.
