Who Owns GitHub Copilot Code? Commercial Use & Copyright (2026)

My startup uses GitHub Copilot extensively. We're about to raise a Series A and VCs are asking about our IP. Specific concerns:

• Who owns code generated by Copilot — us or GitHub/Microsoft?
• Risk of Copilot reproducing GPL or copyleft-licensed code
• Does using Copilot create any license contamination in our codebase?
• Enterprise vs Individual plans — any IP differences?

This comes up constantly in our startup practice. Here's the current state:

Ownership:

• GitHub's ToS: "GitHub does not claim ownership of Copilot Suggestions" — suggestions belong to the user
• You retain all rights to code you write with Copilot assistance
• Same on Individual, Business, and Enterprise plans

License contamination risk:

• This is the real concern. Copilot was trained on public GitHub repos, including GPL-licensed code
• Copilot can and does sometimes reproduce near-exact snippets from training data
• If copyleft code gets into your codebase via Copilot, it could theoretically trigger copyleft obligations
• The "duplicate detection" filter (available on Business/Enterprise) helps but doesn't eliminate risk

Enterprise IP indemnity:

• Copilot Business and Enterprise include Microsoft's copyright indemnification
• Microsoft will defend you against claims that Copilot outputs infringe third-party IP
• Individual plan does NOT include this protection

I run OSS compliance at a public company. Our policy for Copilot:

• Enable the duplicate detection filter (blocks suggestions matching public code)
• Run FOSSA/Snyk license scans on all PRs — catches any verbatim copied snippets
• Require Copilot Business plan minimum (for IP indemnity)
• Developers document significant Copilot-assisted sections in commit messages

In practice, most Copilot suggestions are short snippets (variable names, boilerplate, common patterns) that aren't copyrightable regardless. The risk is mainly with larger blocks of generated code.

VC perspective here: we ask about AI-assisted coding in every technical due diligence now. What we want to see:

• Company uses Copilot Business or Enterprise (with IP indemnity)
• Duplicate detection filter is enabled
• Some form of license scanning in CI/CD pipeline
• A written policy on AI tool usage

We don't penalize companies for using Copilot — it's basically universal now. But we do flag companies with no policies around it. The IP risk is manageable with basic hygiene.

@SarahE_Counsel This is exactly what I needed for the VC conversation. We're on Copilot Business so we have the indemnity. Should we also have something in our employee handbook about AI tool usage?

@senior_dev_remote Absolutely. An AI usage policy is becoming standard. Cover these points:

• Which AI tools are approved (Copilot, ChatGPT, etc.)
• Never paste proprietary code into public/free AI tools
• Enable duplicate detection filters
• Don't use AI tools to generate code in areas with strict compliance requirements without review
• Document significant AI-assisted code in PRs

This gives VCs confidence and protects your IP position. Most law firms have templates for this now.

For solo founders who can't afford Enterprise: the Individual plan still gives you ownership of generated code. You just don't get the IP indemnity from Microsoft. The practical risk of someone actually suing an indie dev over Copilot-generated code is extremely low. The license contamination risk is more theoretical than practical for most use cases.

That said, if you're building something you plan to sell or raise money for, upgrading to Business ($19/mo) for the indemnity is worth it just for the due diligence story.