Question

While building a proprietary product, a developer accepts a large, distinctive block of code that GitHub Copilot suggested. A teammate later notices the block appears nearly identical to a snippet from a well-known open-source project distributed under a copyleft (GPL) license. What is the most responsible way to handle this situation before shipping?

Accepted Answer

Enable Copilot's duplication detection filter and review whether the accepted code matches public code, then verify licensing and replace or properly attribute it as needed.

Answer

Keep the code since Copilot generated it, which automatically means the output is free of any licensing obligations.

Answer

Add a code comment stating the snippet was AI-generated, which removes any obligation to check its origin or license.

Answer

Rename the variables and reformat the block so it no longer looks like the original, then ship it without further review.