WP Engine files an injunction to get its WordPress.org access back

Web hosting provider WP Engine has filed an injunction in a court in Northern California, asking it to intervene and restore its access to the WordPress.org open source repository.

After WP Engine filed a lawsuit against WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg and Automattic last month, Mullenweg — who also owns WordPress.org — blocked the company’s access to the open source project.

This also meant that WP Engine couldn’t update its Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plug-in, which is used to create and customize their edit screens. Earlier this month, WordPress took control of ACF and forked it, citing developer guidelines, which gives them control to change a plug-in “without developer consent, in the name of public safety.”

With the latest filing, WP Engine seeks to restore the “status quo as it existed prior to September 20, 2024” in terms of the company’s access to the open source repo.

“WPE respectfully requests that the Court issue a preliminary injunction restoring and preserving the status quo as it existed prior to Defendants’ wrongful actions described above. The preliminary injunction requires no security because returning the situation to the status quo will have no negative effect on Defendants,” the court filing read.

The company added that these protections should also be extended to its affiliates, partners, employees, users, and customers.

Notably, Mullenweg earlier this month added a new checkbox to the WordPress.org contributor login, asking people to verify that they were not associated with WP Engine in any way. At that time, contributors said that they were banned from the community Slack for criticizing the move.

In a separate declaration attached to the filing, WP Engine’s CEO Heather Brunner said that until recently, she thought that “wordpress.org was associated with and/or owned by the nonprofit WordPress Foundation.”

“Automattic vehemently denies WP Engine’s allegations — which are gross mischaracterizations of reality — and reserves all of our rights,” an Automattic spokesperson said. “Automattic is confident in our legal position and will vigorously litigate against this baseless filing, as well as pursue all remedies against WP Engine.”