A judge ruled in WP Engine’s favor in their request for a preliminary injunction against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg. The court agreed that WP Engine will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is not granted and giving the defendants (Automattic and Mullenweg) 72 hours to return things to the way they were as of September 20th, 2024.
WP Engine offered this statement to Search Engine Journal:
“We are grateful that the court has granted our motion for a preliminary injunction. The order will bring back much-needed stability to the WordPress ecosystem. WP Engine is focused on serving our partners and customers and working with the community to find ways to ensure a vigorous, and thriving WordPress community.”
The judge ruled against Mullenweg and Automattic on every argument, granting WP Engine a preliminary injunction. The ruling requires the defendants to restore WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org, regain control of the WordPress.org directory listing for the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin, and remove a list of WP Engine customers from the domains.csv file linked on the wordpressenginetracker.com website.
There were six parts labeled A – F that outline the judge’s analysis of the case:
A. Success on the Merits
B. Irreparable Harm
C. Balance of Equities
D. Public Interest
E. Bond
F. Scope of Injunction
A. Success on the Merits
On WP Engine’s “claim for tortious interference with contractual relations” the judge ruled:
“Defendants’ arguments in opposition do not compel a different conclusion.
Defendants’ argument that the interference WPEngine alleges consists of acts they had a right to take fares no better.”
B. Irreparable Harm
Mullenweg and Automattic completely failed at defending against WP Engine’s claims of irreparable harm if the injunction isn’t granted. The judge wrote:
“Defendants counter with four arguments. None is persuasive”
C. Balance of Equities
In this part of the ruling the judge had to weigh the impact of the injunction on both parties. The judge found that WP Engine had good reason for obtaining an injunction to prevent further harm and that there would be no impact on Automattic or Mullenweg.
The judge wrote:
“The conduct described at length above – including the termination of WPEngine’s access to WordPress, the interference with the ACF plugin, and the additional burdens imposed on WPEngine’s customers, such as the sign-in pledge – demonstrates that WPEngine has a significant interest in obtaining preliminary injunctive relief.
Defendants’ arguments in opposition do not establish that they will suffer any damage that overrides WPEngine’s interest in obtaining relief. …Requiring Defendants to restore access on those terms while this action proceeds imposes a minimal burden.”
D. Public Interest
This part of the ruling addresses how granting the injunction impacts parties beyond the plaintiff and defendants. The judge concluded that denying the preliminary injunction would cause significant harm.
The court explained:
“Here, the public consequences of withholding injunctive relief are significant. Mullenweg himself acknowledges that ‘[t]oday, more than 40% of all websites run on WordPress.’
…Over two million websites run the ACF plugin Mullenweg allegedly tampered with, and those users rely on the stability of the plugin, and WordPress more broadly, to operate their websites, run their businesses, and go about their day online.
Moreover, the availability of WordPress as open-source software has created a sector for companies to operate at a profit. This includes Mullenweg’s own companies like Automattic and Pressable, and as Mullenweg himself acknowledged in 2017, it also includes WPEngine, which at the time, Mullenweg described as ‘the largest dedicated managed WP host…’
Those who have relied on the WordPress’s stability, and the continuity of support from for-fee service providers who have built businesses around WordPress, should not have to suffer the uncertainty, losses, and increased costs of doing business attendant to the parties’ current dispute.
Defendants’ arguments in opposition do not persuade otherwise.
…Accordingly, the final Winter element – the public interest – weighs in favor of granting preliminary injunctive relief.”
E. Bond
Automattic and Mullenweg argued that WP Engine should be required file a bond of $1.6 million to ensure that they are compensated for potential costs and damages if it’s later found that the preliminary injunction was granted without sufficient basis.
The judge agreed with WP Engine’s argument that reverting to the status quo, to how things were on September 20th, would have no effect.
They wrote:
“WPEngine’s arguments are persuasive. …the Court finds that any harm to Defendants resulting from the issuance of preliminary injunctive relief is unlikely, as it merely requires them to revert to business as usual as of September 20, 2024. Accordingly, the Court declines to require WPEngine to post a bond.”
F. Scope Of Injunction
The court has ordered the defendants, their coworkers, and anyone helping them to stop doing the following things:
- Preventing WP Engine, its employees, users, customers, or partners from accessing WordPress.org.
- Disrupting WP Engine’s control over or access to plugins or extensions hosted on WordPress.org
- Modifying WP Engine plugins on WordPress installations (websites built with WordPress software) through unauthorized auto-migrate or auto-update commands
- The court ordered that the defendants take actions within 72 hours to address WP Engine’s claims and restore things to the way they were on September 20, 2024.
- Delete the list of WP Engine customers from the WP Engine Tracker website and the GitHub repository.
- Restore WP Engine employee login credentials to WordPress.org and login.wordpress.org.
- Disable any “technological blocking” like IP blocking, that were set up around September 25, 2024.
- Remove the checkbox added on October 8, 2024, at login.wordpress.org, which required users to confirm they were ‘not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise.’
- Restore WP Engine’s control over its Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin directory listing to the way it was on September 20, 2024.
The injunction goes into effect immediately and will remain until the court issues a final judgment after the trial.
A Win For WP Engine And The WordPress Community
Many people agree with the principle that those who profit from WordPress should give back to it. However the overwhelming sentiment on social media has not been supportive of how Mullenweg’s actions against WP Engine. Today a judge agreed with WP Engine and issued a preliminary injunction in their favor.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Brian A Jackson
