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As it relates to computers though this seems incredibly messy and a bad interpretation. Is my python script copyrighted, but the bytecode (generated by a comput

As it relates to computers though this seems incredibly messy and a bad interpretation. Is my python script copyrighted, but the bytecode (generated by a computer) not? How do compiled programs have any copyright protection? Am I only violating a computer's copyright (so no copyright) if I crack DRM on a generated executable file[1]? Does the DMCA anti-circumvention protection only apply to hand-applied protection? When is a computer doing too much of the work? What about a Blender render? I think it would take me a hot minute to do those raytracing computations by hand. Do I only get the copyright to the output if I do that? The most straightforward way to look at it is that computers and their programs are a tool, and their output as used by a person or person on behalf of a company. I think this current definition as I (NAL) understand it is unworkable and probably won't last long-term. [1] Say for the sake of argument that there's no images or models or things that are obviously copyrighted, it's just a CLI calculator

PeterisP 3y ago
The bytecode is not a novel creative work and does not have a separate copyright, this affects, for example, copyright terms (not that they are already relevant for code with the terms being so long) - the effective copyright date is when you wrote the source code, not when it was compiled; and of course the authorship - it does not matter who owns the machine or who initiated the compiling, only the writing of the original source code. But it is protected effectively as a "copy in a different format" of the original work - just as for a book, perhaps the author originally wrote as a manuscript with a quill on parchment or on a computer, and for the physical printed book it matters when and how the book was originally written (first 'fixed on a durable medium'), not what machines or tools were used in typesetting and printing the copy that you have - and the printed copy is still protected as a copy of that original creative work fixed in a manuscript. In essence, as far as copyright law is concerned, the bytecode isn't generated by a tool, it's transformed by a tool.
kmeisthax 3y ago
Processes that transform creative work do not add creativity, but also do not erase it. So both your Python files and anything in the __pycache__ dir are copyrighted. More specifically, the __pycache__ is the same work in a different form, so it's the same copyright. You couldn't, say, dedicate the source to the public domain and then claim copyright over the binaries. DMCA anti-circumention has to do with computer programs that enforce copyright. The work being protected has to be under copyright, but not the protection itself. The only reason why AI art is completely uncopyrightable is because the only human contribution is a text prompt which is too short and functional to be copyrighted. Even if you're getting creative with your prompt writing, none of that creativity translates over into the final art - you're just keyword stuffing a small language model.

PeterisP 3y ago

The bytecode is not a novel creative work and does not have a separate copyright, this affects, for example, copyright terms (not that they are already relevant for code with the terms being so long) - the effective copyright date is when you wrote the source code, not when it was compiled; and of course the authorship - it does not matter who owns the machine or who initiated the compiling, only the writing of the original source code. But it is protected effectively as a "copy in a different format" of the original work - just as for a book, perhaps the author originally wrote as a manuscript with a quill on parchment or on a computer, and for the physical printed book it matters when and how the book was originally written (first 'fixed on a durable medium'), not what machines or tools were used in typesetting and printing the copy that you have - and the printed copy is still protected as a copy of that original creative work fixed in a manuscript. In essence, as far as copyright law is concerned, the bytecode isn't generated by a tool, it's transformed by a tool.

kmeisthax 3y ago

Processes that transform creative work do not add creativity, but also do not erase it. So both your Python files and anything in the __pycache__ dir are copyrighted. More specifically, the __pycache__ is the same work in a different form, so it's the same copyright. You couldn't, say, dedicate the source to the public domain and then claim copyright over the binaries. DMCA anti-circumention has to do with computer programs that enforce copyright. The work being protected has to be under copyright, but not the protection itself. The only reason why AI art is completely uncopyrightable is because the only human contribution is a text prompt which is too short and functional to be copyrighted. Even if you're getting creative with your prompt writing, none of that creativity translates over into the final art - you're just keyword stuffing a small language model.