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This story has been updated throughout with more details as the story has developed . We will bear on to do so as the case and difference are ongoing .
The community around WordPress , one of the most pop technology for creating and hosting internet site , is go through a very het argument . At the core is a fight between WordPress ’ co - creator and Automattic ’s CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine , which host websites build on WordPress .
WordPress ’ technology is open source and free , and it power a huge chunk of the internet — around 40 % of websites are build on top of WordPress . site can host their own WordPress illustration or use a solution supplier like Automattic or WP Engine for a plug - and - playing period solution .
In mid - September , Mullenweg , who owns WordPress.org and the WordPress Foundation , launch a campaign against WP Engine witha blog postin which he calledthe company a “ genus Cancer to WordPress,”calling it out for not add sufficiently to the open author project . He also say WP Engine ’s use of the “ WP ” marque has flurry customers into believing it is part of WordPress .
Since then , Mullenweg / Automattic and WP Engine have been locked in a legal battle . Mullenweg has accuse WP Engine of infringing the WordPress trademark , while WP Engine has hit Mullenweg and Automattic with a causa , charge them of extortion , interference with military operation , abuse of power , and damage to business concern .
The upheaval has affected both companies and the WordPress community of interests at large . contributor to the open author project and loss leader of companies in the ecosystemhave address outagainst the fight , calling for organisation change and play up concerns about Mullenweg ’s lack of accountability .
Here ’s a immediate retread of the entire saga :
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The legal battle
The company claimed that Mullenweg had pronounce he would take a “ scorched earth atomic approach ” against WP Engine unless it correspond to ante up “ a significant share of its taxation for a license to the WordPress trademark . ”
In response , Automattic sent its owncease - and - desist letter to WP locomotive , saying that they hadbreached WordPress and WooCommerce trademark utilisation rules .
The WordPress Foundation , owned by Mullenweg , alsochanged its Trademark Policy pageand forebode out WP locomotive , aver the hosting help has confused exploiter .
“ The abbreviation ‘ WP ’ is not address by the WordPress trademarks , but please do n’t use it in a style that confuses people . For example , many people think WP Engine is ‘ WordPress Engine ’ and is officially link with WordPress , which it is not . They have never once even donate to the WordPress Foundation , despite making billions of tax revenue on top of WordPress , ” the update varlet reads .
WP Engine ban and trademark battle
Mullenweg thenbanned WP Engine from accessing the resources of WordPress.org . While elements like plug - ins and subject are under open informant license , providers like WP Engine have to run a avail to fetch them , which is not covered under the undetermined reservoir license .
This broke a lot of site and foreclose them fromupdating hack - insandthemes . It also left some of them open to security attacks . The residential district was not proud of with this access of leaving small web site helpless .
In response to the incident , WP Engine said in a mail that Mullenweg had misuse his control of WordPress to interpose with WP Engine customer ’ access to WordPress.org .
“ Matt Mullenweg ’s unprecedented and idle activity interferes with the normal surgical process of the total WordPress ecosystem , touch not just WP Engine and our customers , but all WordPress plugin developer and open source users who depend on WP Engine tools like ACF , ” WP Engine say .
Matt Mullenweg , chief executive officer of Automattic , has misused his control of WordPress to interfere with WP locomotive customers ’ access tohttps://t.co/ZpKb9q4jPh , maintain that he did so because WP Engine filed judicial proceeding againsthttps://t.co/erlNmkIol2 . This simply is not true . Our Cease & …
On September 27 , WordPress.orglifted the forbiddance temporarily , allowing WP locomotive to access resources until October 1 .
Mullenwegwrote a blogpost clarifying that the fight is only against WP Engine over trademark . He said Automattic has been trying to broker a trademark licensing deal for a long time , but WP Engine ’s only response has been to “ string up us along . ”
On September 30 , a day before the WordPress.org deadline for the proscription on WP Engine , the hosting fellowship updated its site ’s footer to clarify it is not now affiliate with the WordPress Foundation or owns the WordPress trade .
“ WP Engine is a majestic member and helper of the community of WordPress ® users . The WordPress ® earmark is the intellectual property of the WordPress Foundation , and the Woo ® and WooCommerce ® trademarks are the intellectual property of WooCommerce , Inc. Uses of the WordPress ® , Woo ® , and WooCommerce ® name in this website are for identification purposes only and do not imply an warrant by WordPress Foundation or WooCommerce , Inc. WP Engine is not endorsed or own by , or affiliated with , the WordPress Foundation or WooCommerce , Inc. ,”the update description on the site read .
The company also changed its program names from “ Essential WordPress , ” “ Core WordPress , ” and “ Enterprise WordPress ” to “ Essential , ” “ Core , ” and “ endeavour . ”
WP Engine said in a program line that it changed these terms to moot Automattic ’s claim .
“ We , like the rest of the WordPress biotic community , use the WordPress mark to describe our business . Automattic ’s suggestion that WPE ask a licence to do that is but wrong , and reflects a mistake of earmark law . To moot its claimed concerns , we have extinguish the few examples Automattic give in its September 23rd letter to us , ” a company voice tell TechCrunch .
On October 1 , the ship’s company posted on X that it has successfully deploy its own result for update plug - In and musical theme .
We are pleased to report that our solution has been fully deploy and unconstipated workflow praxis have been restore to our customers around the globe . We give thanks all our customers for their patience and support over the past week . Like so many of you , we love WordPress , and are …
On October 15 , TechCrunch report thatAutomattic planned to define trademarks since early this yearinvolving “ nice and not nice ” attorney , according to an inner blog post write by the company ’s then - chief legal officer . The post also mentioned a strategy to file more trademarks , whichthe foundation eventually did in July .
On December 10 , the court granteda preliminary cease and desist order to WP Engine . The court ordered Automattic and Mullenweg to restore WP Engine ’s memory access to WordPress.org , remove the login stoppage mark for developer where they have to declare if they were affiliated with WP locomotive engine , and also touch on WP Engine ’s access to Advanced Custom Fields ( ACF ) plug - in .
Community Impact
The WordPress biotic community and other projects feel this could also happen to them and want clarification from Automattic , which has an exclusive permit to the WordPress trademark . The community is also involve about clear counselling around how they can and ca n’t use “ WordPress . ”
The WordPress Foundation , which owns the trademark , hasalso filed to trademark“Managed WordPress ” and “ Hosted WordPress . ”Developersandprovidersare worried that if these trademarks are granted , they could be used against them .
developer haveexpressed concernsover swear on commercial-grade open source product related to WordPress , especially when their access code can go out quickly .
assailable root capacity management system Ghost ’s founder John O’Nolan also weighed in on the issue and criticized control of WordPress being with one person .
“ The entanglement needs more independent organizations , and it needs more variety . 40 % of the web and 80 % of the CMS market should not be control by any one somebody , ” he said inan X Wiley Post .
On October 9 , vane app development framework Ruby on Rails Maker David Heinemeier Hansson opined that Automattic is violate principles of open generator software by enquire WP Engine to pay 8 % of its revenues .
“ Automattic is entirely out of line , and the possible hurt to the loose source creation extend far beyond WordPress . Do n’t letthe dramaor its character distract you from that threat , ” he enjoin ina blog post .
On the same day , Mullenweg added a new checkbox to the WordPress.org contributor login , ask the great unwashed to verify that they are not associated with WP Engine in any way . This move was criticized by the contributor community . Some contributors allege that they werebanned fromthe residential area Slackfor opposing the move .
In reaction , WP Engine suppose that its customers , agencies , users , and the community as a whole are not the company ’s associates .
Like the rest of the residential district , we have ascertain a new checkbox for logins athttps://t.co/ZpKb9q4jPhthat has created disarray amongst the residential area as to whether or how they are obliged to answer the question posed next to the checkbox . We value our customers , agencies , users and …
On October 12 , WordPress.orgtook control condition of ACF ( Advanced Custom Fields ) plug - in — which arrive at it light for WordPress developers to add customized fields on the edit screen — which was maintained by WP Engine . As WP Engine lost control of the open source plug - in repository , the Silver Lake - backed troupe was n’t capable to update the cud - in . WordPress.org and Mullenweg said that hack - in guidelines allow the system to take this step .
On October 28 , WordPressallegedly asked organizers of WordCamp Sydney , a residential area event , to remove posts mouth about WP Engine . Plus , Automattic also asked organiser across the man toshare social media chronicle credentialsfor “ secure storage of next outcome , ” according toleaked letter posted on X.
On November 7 , Automattic createda new page call WP Engine Trackerto show how many internet site have switched from WP Engine to another hosting supplier . As part of the cease and desist order , the royal court directed Automattic to take away specific client information from the tracker .
In December , former Yoast CEO Joost de Valk suggesteda “ Federated ” approach to WordPress.org , so there is no central ascendancy . enterprisingness internet consulting firm Crowd Favorite ’s CEO Karim Marucchi alsosupported the apparent movement via a separate blog post .
In January 2025 , Mullenweg herald that Automattic wouldreduce its share to the Five for the Future projectto match WP Engine ’s contribution of 45 hours per hebdomad . What ’s more , he said that Automattic will allocate resources to develop its own Cartesian product and ongoing legal battle with WP Engine .
by and by , the WordPress co - Lord alsoblocked the WordPress.org accounts of many contributors , including de Valk and Marucchi , over alleged plans of a WordPress branching . However , de Valk tell apart TechCrunch that the duo has n’t been planning a fork .
WP Engine lawsuit
On October 3 , WP Enginesued Automattic and Mullenwegover insult of power in a royal court in California . The host fellowship also allege that Automattic and Mullenweg did n’t keep their promises to run WordPress undefendable source undertaking without any constraints and giving developer the freedom to build , streak , qualify , and redistribute the software .
“ Matt Mullenweg ’s conduct over the last ten day has exposed significant difference of opinion of interest and governance subject that , if left uncurbed , endanger to destroy that trust . WP Engine has no choice but to pursue these claims to protect its people , representation mate , client , and the broader WordPress residential district , ” the company said in a instruction to TechCrunch .
The lawsuit also observe supposed texts from Mullenweg about potentially hire WP Engine CEO Heather Brunner . In a comment on Hacker News , Mullenwegsaidthat Brunner want to be an executive theatre director of WordPress.org .
In reply , Automattic called this case meritless .
“ I stayed up last Nox read WP Engine ’s Complaint , trying to find any merit anywhere to it . The whole affair is meritless , and we attend onward to the Union court ’s consideration of their lawsuit , ” the company ’s effectual representative , Neal Katyal , said in ablog post .
On October 18 , WP Engine filedan injunction in a California court , asking the judge to doctor its memory access to WordPress.org . A 24-hour interval later on , the company filedan administrative motionrequesting the court of law to shorten the clip to try its early preliminary injunction .
Mullenweg and team opposed expedited auditory sense in a court of justice document register on October 21 . They argued that the pillowcase is not about WP Engine ’s access code to WordPress , as the company already has access code to “ https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress ” and they can choose to utilize it in any way .
“ Rather than being about access to WordPress software , this case instead is about WordPress.org — a website owned and turn tail by Defendant Matt Mullenweg individually , for the benefit of the community he loves , ” the filing reads .
“ WordPress.org is not WordPress . WordPress.org is not Automattic or the WordPress Foundation , and is not controlled by either . To the contrary , as Plaintiff itself acknowledge , WordPress.org is Mr. Mullenweg ’s obligation . ”
On October 23 , Judge Araceli Martinez - Olguin say the first hearing for primary injunction will take billet on November 26 unless there is an opposite .
On October 30 , Mullenweg and Automattic file a apparent movement to ignore key accusal made by WP Engine on the base that the caller is responsible for harming itself .
“ Despite its own ( mis)conduct , WP Engine ’s Complaint now asks this Court to oblige Matt to put up various resources and support to private equity - backed WP Engine for destitute , in the absence of any contract , agreement , or anticipate to do so , ” the court document read .
Automattic exodus
On October 3,159 Automattic employeeswho did n’t agree with Mullenweg ’s direction of the company and WordPress overall took a severance parcel and left the troupe . Almost 80 % of the great unwashed who left worked in Automattic ’s Ecosystem / WordPress part .
On October 8 , WordPress said that Mary Hubbard , who was TikTok U.S. ’s pass of governance and experience , will be starting as executive director . This post was previously held byJosepha Haden Chomphosy , who was one of the 159 people leaving Automattic . A day prior to this , one of theengineers from WP Engine announced that he was join Automattic .
On October 12 , Mullenweg write in a place that every workingAutomattic employee would get 200 A12 portion as a token of gratitude . These share area special classfor Automattic employees that they can deal after one year and do n’t have an termination escort .
On October 17 , Mullenweg post another alignment crack on Automattic ’s Slack channels — with a four - hour reaction window — witha nine - calendar month severance . However , if any person took the offer , they would also lose access to the WordPress.org residential district , Mullenweg said .
you’re able to get through this reporter at im@ivanmehta.com or on Signal : @ivan.42
