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I've created many open source projects under MIT license.

Due to the inquiries I receive, stargazers, and direct communication with the people who are using them, I know many big companies who are using my open source projects.

Is there any legal issue if I show them as possible users of my open source project?

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Statements affirming public data are fine.

Stars and watchers on GitHub are public data - anyone can see it. If you're just making a statement about that data, you're fine - you're stating a fact, what people choose to make of it is out of your control. Something like

BigCompanyA and BigCompanyB have starred this project on GitHub!

would be okay, for example.

I'd steer clear of making statements based on the implications of that data. You know (for a fact) that the company has starred/watched your repository; however, that doesn't necessarily imply that they use the project. They might just really like you. Unless you know for certain that they use it, I'd avoid saying they do.

If in doubt, ask!

It sounds like you already have a channel of communication open with the people you're planning to claim as users. If you're not sure whether it's okay or not, use that communication channel to ask them! A quick

Hey, do you mind if I quote you on that?

or maybe

Hey, can I list you as a user of this project on my website?

isn't problematic - you can even tack it on to the end of a more business-focused message, if you like.

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  • Thanks. What I see here is It is good to mention the users but with slightly different wordings and their permission. I seen many big opensource projects mentioning big companies as their users. Do they really confirm with proper authority of that company?
    – Amit Kumar Gupta
    May 9, 2018 at 8:03
  • I'd expect they have, @AmitGupta - it doesn't have to be a huge formal process, but it seems discourteous to me to mention someone in relation to a project without confirming that you're not making incorrect assumptions.
    – ArtOfCode
    May 9, 2018 at 8:58

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