I think you are correct that an image derived from a program with no human input is not copyrightable in the US. Relevant sections from the copyright.gov compen

I think you are correct that an image derived from a program with no human input is not copyrightable in the US. Relevant sections from the copyright.gov compendium, 3rd edition -------------- # 306 The Human Authorship Requirement The U.S. Copyright Office will register an original work of authorship, provided that the work was created by a human being. The copyright law only protects “the fruits of intellectual labor” that “are founded in the creative powers of the mind.” Trade-Mark Cases, 100 U.S. 82, 94 (1879). Because copyright law is limited to “original intellectual conceptions of the author,” the Office will refuse to register a claim if it determines that a human being did not create the work. Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony, 111 U.S. 53, 58 (1884). For representative examples of works that do not satisfy this requirement, see Section 313.2 below. ... # 313.2 Works That Lack Human Authorship The Office will not register works produced by nature, animals, or plants. Likewise, the Office cannot register a work purportedly created by divine or supernatural beings.... ... Similarly, the Office will not register works produced by a machine or mere mechanical process that operates randomly or automatically without any creative input or intervention from a human author... Example: A claim based on a mechanical weaving process that randomly produces irregular shapes in the fabric... https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/docs/compendium.pdf https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/docs/compendium.pdf (Warning, approx 1200 pages)