Laundry detergents or cleaning compositions which comprises a copolymer composition comprising i) a copolymer having a weight-average molecular weight of from about 10,000 to about 50,000 and comprising a) 30-60 mol% structural units derived from monoethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid or dicarboxylate; b) structural units derived from monoethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid or monocarboxylate; c) structural units derived from monomers containing sulfonic acid or sulfonate groups and having no ester bonds or amido bonds; and ii) 10,000 ppm or less of residual monoethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid or dicarboxylate monomer.