Someone copied my code on Github and claimed it to be his own project.

Last week, a guy copied my source code from Github, even the comments I have written in my source code. Since it wasn't much big of a project, It didn't bother me much (even though I put hours of work into it). In the future, if someone tries to copy my project, how should I proceed? Does having your code on Github mean anyone can copy the code without giving any credit to the owner? I also don't want my projects to be private. Just to clarify, I didn't use any license for my project

Comments

[wetndusty]

Every John Lennon have his own Mark David Chapman. Enjoy.

[Daniel Bulant]

If you have no license at all, MIT or Apache license, you can ask GH to change the repo/take it down, if the user claims they made the software even if they did not.
However, you should make reasonable effort to contact the person and ask them nicely to change their text.

[OSZII]

I would contact this person and give him a warning so that he know if he copies it next time without asking legal actions will take place

[swedishbotmafia]

This is a scenario I've reported someone to the FBI. The codebase belonged to a university technically so it's probably easier. If they're American the FBI takes that shit seriously. If they're a foreign national; that can forfeit any opportunity they might have that leads them to the US.

[Azlan-Syed]

anything on github is opensource so it may be that the guy is doing that and he is not violating anything

[Francois]

I have found this site very useful for concise information on software licenses
tldrlegal.com/

[RangerCoder99]

If it's public and got no license specified you can't really do anything if it did have an license you can contact github for help...

All my are private for this reason..

[Stef Joosten]

To present somebody else's work as your own is illegal. It doesn't matter which license you offer; it is illegal. This right is protected under the Universal Copyright Convention (UAC) and Bern Convention, both of which are internationally agreed treaties that most countries have adopted.
The right to call yourself author cannot be sold or given away because the author has written the work and nobody can change that. It is in the law of every country that has adopted one or both of these two conventions. Whatever the license you give, no one but the author is allowed to call him or herself the author.

So what if someone does copy your work and takes full credit? As you have experienced, licensing does not prevent people from stealing your work. I reckon you have felt the pain and frustration yourself. I know it too and you have my full sympathy. Rest assured that the law is on the side of the author, whatever the license may be.

The problem is of course that the person who wrongfully claims authorship does not abide by the law. Who is going to stop him? There are things you can do in the judicial world (like sueing), but also things you can do in the social world (like exposing this person or trying to discuss it), or do things in the technical world (like hiding or blocking your work) or you can even ignore it. Please consider your optioins carefully because each option comes with risks and downsides too.

[Vincent Tsen]

Unpreventable if it is public, regardless of what license or implicit license you have. Whether they want to credit you is totally up to them. If I were you, I will learn to let go and continue to contribute to the community.

[David Bock]

You can make a copyright claim and send a takedown notice to github. I have done this on private work-related contracts when a contractor shared an otherwise private, copyrighted project. Complete instructions are here:

docs.github.com/en/site-policy/con...

Github will take it down, the person can appeal, and your takedown notice will become a matter of public record with identifying attributes removed. If you really care about this, and contacting them has had no effect, follow those instructions to resolution.

[Sadeedpv🥇]

Thanks for the feedback ❤️