I think it depends on how different it is, as to whether it will be a violation. And just how different is going to be a subjective decision made by a judge on

I think it depends on how different it is, as to whether it will be a violation. And just how different is going to be a subjective decision made by a judge on a case by case basis... if anyone ever bothered to take the issue that far to begin with. If it's found reasonable to assume that a certain 'copy' of the code could be indistinguishable of that made by another person who didn't look at the original code... then it's probably not similar enough to be infringing. I would even go so far as to say that I think if such a case _was_ ever brought, that unless someone paid enough money to hire subject matter experts to testify, the case may likely be thrown out because the judge is not able to make an informed decision with such lack of evidence.