Automattic files counterclaims against WP Engine in WordPress lawsuit(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Automattic files counterclaims against WP Engine in WordPress lawsuit
https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/24/automattic-files-counterclaims-against-wp-engine-in-wordpress-lawsuit-alleging-trademark-misuse/
2 comments
Arguable that I started WordPress and both personally funded or through Automattic contributed more to it than any other entity in the world? Others of course can say they're WordPress makers, but you can't deny Automattic from being called that.
The GPL is a license for the source code to be open and free. No one has ever implied it defines anything else about how the software is used or interacts wit the world.
So what that they allegedly lied by saying and marketing they were giving back while not actually doing it? That's like saying you're cleaning a river while secretly dumping toxic sludge in it.
So what on degrading the experience? Imagine WordPress was a car, say a BMW Mini, and you're a dealer that buys Minis but then resell them without air-conditioning, safety features like airbags, or a dozen other things a reasonable person would expect from a Mini. But then you spend tens of millions of dollars marketing it as a Mini, actually charging more than most other dealers, but people get in and say this seems a bit odd, basic things don't work. Does that degrade the Mini brand and trademark? Quite a bit. (Again, trademarks have nothing to do with the GPL.) What you call something and how you market it matters, that's why we have large government agencies and laws to protect against this.
I've heard you say before "Change anything in WordPress, there's nothing you can do that I can't undo." Guess what gets broken when revisions are completely turned off: undo. If you want it back on you have to contact customer support for permission. For something you paid 20+/mo for and maybe even thought it was the official WordPress Engine thing.
The GPL is a license for the source code to be open and free. No one has ever implied it defines anything else about how the software is used or interacts wit the world.
So what that they allegedly lied by saying and marketing they were giving back while not actually doing it? That's like saying you're cleaning a river while secretly dumping toxic sludge in it.
So what on degrading the experience? Imagine WordPress was a car, say a BMW Mini, and you're a dealer that buys Minis but then resell them without air-conditioning, safety features like airbags, or a dozen other things a reasonable person would expect from a Mini. But then you spend tens of millions of dollars marketing it as a Mini, actually charging more than most other dealers, but people get in and say this seems a bit odd, basic things don't work. Does that degrade the Mini brand and trademark? Quite a bit. (Again, trademarks have nothing to do with the GPL.) What you call something and how you market it matters, that's why we have large government agencies and laws to protect against this.
I've heard you say before "Change anything in WordPress, there's nothing you can do that I can't undo." Guess what gets broken when revisions are completely turned off: undo. If you want it back on you have to contact customer support for permission. For something you paid 20+/mo for and maybe even thought it was the official WordPress Engine thing.
"without properly giving back to the open source community." The GPL does not require this
"and claimed to its customers that it had committed 5% of its resources to support the WordPress ecosystem. Automattic says it never kept those promises." So what?
"Automattic also claims that WP Engine degraded the consumer experience and product quality in an attempt to cut costs during this time by removing essential features." So what?