Tell HN: GitHub refuses to remove cracked copies of my software after a month

本文为原文前 6,000 字符的节选翻译，完整内容请查看原文。

I am a developer of https://www.photopea.com, a popular photo editor that runs in a web browser. Many people are asking AI models to take the Javascript code from my website, remove all ads from it, and they publish such a “new product” on Github for everyone to download.

我是 https://www.photopea.com 的开发者，这是一个运行在网页浏览器中的流行照片编辑器。许多人要求人工智能模型获取我网站上的 Javascript 代码，删除其中的所有广告，然后将这种“新产品”发布到 Github 上供所有人下载。

There exist tens of such repositories on Github. I want my website to be the only source of a stable version of my program Photopea. I even received emails from people complaining about something in Photopea, and it took several emails to figure out that they are not using Photopea.com (so it ruins my reputation a little).

Github 上存在数十个这样的存储库。我希望我的网站成为我的程序 Photopea 稳定版本的唯一来源。我甚至收到过人们抱怨 Photopea 中某些问题的电子邮件，经过几封邮件的沟通才发现他们并没有在使用 Photopea.com（这在一定程度上损害了我的声誉）。

I reported it to Github on the 4th of September 2026: https://www.photopea.com/g/XKoqqIGv. Today, a month later, I received this response: Thank you for submitting a DMCA takedown notice. We’ve reviewed the information you’ve provided, and based on the facts presented to us, we’re unable to confirm a violation of 17 U.S. Code § 1201.

我在 2026 年 9 月 4 日向 Github 举报了此事：https://www.photopea.com/g/XKoqqIGv。今天，一个月后，我收到了这样的回复：感谢您提交 DMCA 下架通知。我们已经审查了您提供的信息，根据向我们陈述的事实，我们无法确认存在违反美国法典第 17 卷第 1201 条的行为。

What do you think I could do? Do you think I should look for a lawyer to deal with it outside the digital world? I really doubt that a real person ever looked at my report, and they probably send this response automatically to 99% of people.

你们认为我该怎么办？你们觉得我应该找律师在数字世界之外处理这件事吗？我真的很怀疑是否有真人看过我的报告，他们可能只是自动向 99% 的人发送了这个回复。

First off, let me get this out of the way - I am not a lawyer. If you want a legal advice talk to a lawyer. Second, I am sorry this is happening to you. Third, based on GitHub’s reply, specifically “we’re unable to confirm a violation of 17 U.S. Code § 1201” they took your submission as 17 U.S. Code § 1201 takedown notice.

首先，我要声明——我不是律师。如果你需要法律建议，请咨询律师。其次，我很遗憾发生了这种事。第三，根据 GitHub 的回复，特别是“我们无法确认存在违反美国法典第 17 卷第 1201 条的行为”，他们将你的提交视为美国法典第 17 卷第 1201 条的下架通知。

Fourth, if you believe these copies are sufficiently reproducing your copyrighted work, what you likely want to do is file a standard copyright infringement 17 U.S Code § 512(c) takedown notice. This still goes through the same DMCA report flow but it should result in a less stringent review process and a faster response.

第四，如果你认为这些副本充分复制了你的版权作品，你可能需要提交一份标准的美国法典第 17 卷第 512(c) 条版权侵权下架通知。这仍然遵循相同的 DMCA 举报流程，但应该会带来更宽松的审查过程和更快的响应。

Indeed, a 512(c) takedown notice is the way to do it. GitHub is extremely unlikely to ignore it. I run user generated content websites and would never ignore a notice. You definitely don’t need to hire a lawyer to write it either. Just follow the notification guidelines in 17 U.S Code § 512(c)(3).

确实，512(c) 下架通知才是正确的方法。GitHub 极不可能忽略它。我运营着用户生成内容的网站，绝不会忽略此类通知。你绝对不需要雇佣律师来撰写它。只需遵循美国法典第 17 卷第 512(c)(3) 条中的通知指南即可。

IP lawyer here - I can’t give you actual legal advice because you aren’t my client, but generally, you have two options here, neither of which will be surprising, or very satisfying: 1. Pay a lawyer or firm that specializes in this sort of thing to play whack a mole for you. 2. Accept it as normal losses and ignore it.

我是知识产权律师——我不能给你实际的法律建议，因为你不是我的客户，但总的来说，你有两个选择，这两个选择都不会让人感到意外，也不会让人非常满意：1. 付钱给专门处理此类事务的律师或律所，让他们为你进行“打地鼠”式的维权。2. 将其视为正常损失并忽略它。