Given the breadth of copyrighted training data laundered through these models, the ethics ship has long sailed.

OpenAI was built on stolen data. Why shouldn’t they continue?

You cant.

According to my understanding (IANAL), you dont have to go that far into copyright law - Id guess its already breaking working/conract in the very first second just by copying it and "carrying it out of the building", regardless if you spread it on the internet later on?

Actually two breaches, if Im not wrong then?

I’ve just asked that to ChatGPT and this is the exact answer it gave :) Ironic, isn’t it?

Would you ask a prospective employee to send you code they wrote in their previous company?

Short answer: *no, I wouldn’t—and it’s generally a bad idea to ask.*

Here’s why, and what to do instead.

---

## Why you shouldn’t ask for code from a previous employer

1. *Legal and contractual issues* Most employment contracts assign ownership of code to the company. Asking for it puts the candidate at risk of violating:

   * IP assignment clauses
   * NDAs
   * Trade secret laws

2. *Ethical red flag* A candidate who does share proprietary code is signaling that they might do the same to your company later.

3. *Biased signal* Some candidates (especially senior or well-trained ones) will refuse on principle. You’d be selecting for the wrong behavior.

4. *Low signal-to-noise ratio* Real-world code is often:

   * Highly contextual
   * Entangled with proprietary systems
   * Hard to evaluate without full context

---

## What to ask for instead (better options)

### 1. *Open-source contributions*

Ask for:

* GitHub / GitLab profiles * Public PRs or issues * Personal projects

This shows real-world collaboration without IP risk.

### 2. *A take-home or live exercise*

Design something that:

* Can be completed in a few hours * Mirrors the work they’ll actually do * Is clearly stated as theirs to own

Bonus: allow them to explain tradeoffs rather than just write code.

### 3. *Code walkthrough (descriptive, not shared)*

Ask them to:

* Describe a complex system they built * Explain architecture, tradeoffs, and failures * Talk through how they’d improve it today

This is often more revealing than code.

### 4. *Pair programming / problem discussion*

Observe:

* How they reason * How they ask questions * How they handle ambiguity

---

## When it might be acceptable

Only if *all* of the following are true:

* The code is explicitly non-proprietary * The candidate confirms they own the rights * It’s already public (e.g., open source)

Even then, I’d still be cautious.

---

## Bottom line

> *If a candidate shares proprietary code, that’s not a plus—it’s a liability.*

Strong hiring processes test:

* Judgment * Reasoning * Communication * Craft

—not their willingness to break an NDA.

If you want, tell me:

* The role (junior/senior, IC/lead) * The domain (backend, ML, frontend, systems)

…and I can help you design a fair, high-signal interview process.