WordPress, a company that develops software for creating websites, and WP Engine, a developer of plugins and themes for these sites, have entered into a legal dispute. It all started when Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic, which owns WP, claimed that WP Engine illegally uses the WordPress brand. He also believes that WPE deliberately restricts the ability of users to view the history of page changes in order to generate more revenue.

In several blog posts, social media statements, and press comments, Mullenweg said that WPE did not do enough to develop WP, but used the platform to make money for themselves. He has also repeatedly insisted that WordPress and WP Engine have no connection and called WPE a “cancer” on the community.

In response to Automattic’s CEO’s statements, WP Engine sent him a letter denying the allegations and saying that Mullenweg had threatened the company.

“During calls on September 17th and 19th, for instance, Automattic CFO Mark Davies told a WP Engine board member that Automattic would “go to war” if WP Engine did not agree to pay its
competitor Automattic a significant percentage of its gross revenues – tens of millions of dollars in fact – on an ongoing basis,” the letter says.

In the same letter, WP Engine put forward their demands to Mullenweg and Automattic. They demanded that they stop making misleading statements and not interfere with WP Engine, as well as remove defamatory statements from all platforms.

On September 25, 2024, Mullenweg responded to WPE’s demands, saying that they were threatening him with legal action and stating that his company would restrict WPE’s access to WorldPress.org resources. Subsequently, after complaints from users, this restriction was suspended for several days so that WPE could “spin up mirrors of all WordPress.org resources that they used for free, without paying, and threatening us legally.”

Also, despite the letter from WPE, Mullenweg did not retract his words. This led to WPE filing a lawsuit against him and Automattic on October 3, alleging abuse of power. In addition, on October 18, the company asked a judge to restore its access to WordPress.org. A day later, the company also filed an administrative lawsuit asking for a shorter time to consider its previous request.

As a result of this dispute, 159 people who disagreed with Mullenweg’s policy quit Automattic. In addition, this fight has a negative impact on users and the entire WordPress community. In particular, developers are concerned that their access may simply be restricted, and that all the power is effectively in the hands of one person. Some users believe that Automattic violates the principles of open source software by demanding a share of other companies’ revenue.

This has also led to some developers who have been supporting WordPress for years to decide to stop their activities to further develop the platform.