What configuration needs to be set to get help from Microsoft and GitHub protecting against IP infringement while using GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot for Business and Enterprise includes a specific administrative control to mitigate risks associated with intellectual property infringement. This feature is a filter that, when enabled, checks code suggestions against the vast corpus of public code on GitHub. If a suggestion is a near-match to existing public code, it is blocked from being presented to the user. Configuring the "Suggestions matching public code" policy to 'blocked' is the direct action an organization takes to leverage this protection mechanism provided by GitHub.

B. Enforce blocking of MIT or GPL licensed code: The filter operates by detecting code matches, not by parsing and enforcing specific software licenses like MIT or GPL.

C. You need to check code suggestions yourself before accepting: This is a recommended best practice and part of the user's responsibility, not a configurable protection setting provided by GitHub.

D. Enable GitHub Copilot license checking: This terminology is inaccurate. The feature is a filter for code that matches public code, not a system that actively checks the license of the source code.

1. GitHub Docs, "Configuring GitHub Copilot settings on GitHub.com." This official documentation details the policies available for GitHub Copilot in an organization or enterprise. It explicitly describes the "Suggestions matching public code" filter. Under the section "Managing GitHub Copilot policies," it states: "GitHub Copilot includes a filter to detect code suggestions that match public code on GitHub. You can choose to enable or disable the filter... When the filter is enabled, GitHub Copilot checks code suggestions... against public code on GitHub. If there is a match or near match, the suggestion will not be shown."

2. GitHub Copilot Trust Center, "Risk Management." This official resource outlines the features designed to help organizations manage risk. In the "IP Indemnity" section, it references the public code filter as a key control: "GitHub Copilot also has a filter that, when enabled by an administrator, will check code suggestions against public code on GitHub and block suggestions that match." This directly links the filter to IP risk mitigation.

3. Noy, S., & Shor, E. (2023). "Navigating the Legal Maze of Generative AI in Software Development: A Focus on GitHub Copilot." ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society, 52(3), 45–53. In Section 4, "Mitigation Strategies and Best Practices," the paper discusses technical controls, stating: "GitHub has implemented a filter that can be enabled by enterprise administrators to block suggestions that match public code snippets, thereby reducing the risk of unintentional code plagiarism." (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3605653.3605660)