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What just happened? A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against Automattic, the company behind WordPress, and its founder, Matt Mullenweg, further escalating an ongoing dispute with web hosting provider WP Engine. The lawsuit, filed by WP Engine customer Ryan Keller, accuses Automattic and Mullenweg of deliberately disrupting contracts and abusing their control over the WordPress ecosystem.
Keller, who runs Keller Holdings – a company that creates websites for businesses and individuals – is seeking damages for affected businesses and a permanent injunction to prevent Automattic from using its control over WordPress.org to interfere with competitors.
The conflict centers on Automattic’s actions in September 2024, when the company blocked WPE’s access to WordPress software updates, security patches, and plugins. This move allegedly impacted hundreds of thousands of websites hosted by WPE, causing significant disruptions to their maintenance and security.
The class action lawsuit covers all WP Engine customers in the U.S. who had active hosting plans between September 24, 2024, and December 10, 2024.
Automattic claims its actions were motivated by a trademark infringement dispute with WPE. However, the lawsuit alleges that this was a “poorly disguised attempt to extort WPE” for “tens of millions of dollars” in payments related to the use of the WordPress trademark.
Keller, a longtime WPE user of over a decade, argues that Automattic’s actions put him and other WPE customers in an “impossible situation” by cutting off access to essential WordPress resources. The lawsuit highlights that WordPress software has long been promised to be “free and available to everyone forever,” a commitment that has contributed to its widespread adoption, powering more than 40 percent of all websites worldwide.
Keller, who has used WPE for over a decade, claims that Automattic’s actions put him and other WPE customers in an “impossible situation” by cutting off access to the WordPress ecosystem. The lawsuit emphasizes that WordPress software has long been promised to be “free and available to everyone forever,” a commitment that has contributed to its widespread adoption across more than 40 percent of all websites worldwide.
This lawsuit follows a previous legal battle between WPE and Automattic. In December, a U.S. district judge granted a preliminary injunction in favor of WPE, ordering Automattic to stop blocking WPE customers from accessing the WordPress ecosystem and to remove a publicly available list of WPE customers.
Automattic has responded to the new lawsuit, calling it “without merit” and dismissing it as a rehash of “the same baseless allegations in the WP Engine lawsuit.” The company asserts its commitment to protecting open-source principles and the broader WordPress community, expressing confidence that it will prevail in court.
The lawsuit raises concerns about the broader implications of this dispute for the open-source software community. Keller’s complaint warns that Automattic’s actions could “harm the entire internet as a whole” if left unchecked, potentially setting a dangerous precedent for withholding access to open-source software.
Conversely, if Automattic’s actions are deemed unlawful, the ruling could reinforce that no single company can exert complete control over an open-source project. This could potentially limit Automattic’s ability to aggressively enforce WordPress trademarks in the future.
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