The Other Side of OSS Rug Pulls: Can They Steal Your Business?

Reuse is at the heart of open source, but what happens when reuse turns into rebranding?

When a third party matches your project feature-for-feature, slaps on a new logo, and sells it without contributing a cent or a single PR… what do you do?

What we cover:

License Levers – weighing Apache 2.0, SSPL, and Fair Code tradeoffs

Dual-Licensing & Open Core – can “pay-for-extras” models protect innovation?

Trademark & Branding – using reputation as your defensive moat

Community vs. Commercial – how do you balance contributor trust with sustainable growth?

Each strategy solves a different piece of the open-source sustainability puzzle. Together, they form the backbone of a resilient, value-aligned OSS model.

If you're building or relying on OSS, the real question isn't "How do we stop the copycats?".
It’s “What value are we trying to protect, and for whom?”

We'd love to hear your perspective: How would you react if your flagship OSS got resold without attribution?

Tune in every Friday at 9 AM on YouTube (WunderGraph - Stefan & Jens) for new Live episodes!

Watch this episode here: The Other Side of OSS Rug Pulls: Can They Steal Your Business?

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