In GitHub alternatives it shows https://gitlabhost.com/. Does anyone knows how copyright works when a different company uses GitLab name and offers competitive hosting to GitLab itself?
Trademarks, not copyright would be the issue here.
This is a clear use of the Gitlab trademark, which gives two options for being permitted to use it:
1. An agreement with Gitlab themselves. Gitlab's own published trademark guidelines do not allow its use within a business name, but this company claims to be in a partner program with Gitlab, so they may have worked on the side. (This is also how Gitlab/Github were grandfathered in for their use of the Git trademark)
2. Descriptive use. This is what allows e.g. "Bob's Kia Repairs". The laws on this vary a lot from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and usually e.g. consider how likely it is to be confused with the trademarked business. I think gitlabhost would fail that test as you can see people thinking it is an offer from Gitlab themselves. And in general because of the non-uniformity of rules, you probably want to avoid relying on them for anything not inherently limited to a single jurisdiction.
