Ask HN: Is all AI coded code in the public domain? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is all AI coded code in the public domain?

4 pointse12e5 comments

AFAIK it's generally assumed (but not(?) tested in court, that LLMs can't be assigned copyright, and that copyright for work generated by LLMs can't be claimed by a human just for being in the loop.

Is there going to be an avalanche of code that is legally in the public domain, going forward?

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Not a lawyer, but if you're talking USA, would recommend checking regularly for updates: https://www.copyright.gov/ai/

Even if AI output isn't copyrightable, could you really argue a solid case if I taint random parts of the source code with my own isms? Which this is something I do, I don't care if the AI generated portions of my code base are copyrightable, perhaps my licensing is not valid for those portions, but throughout my code is going to be parts I hand crafted or patterned out because the AI just can't get it right. Those snippets are just proverbial land mines in waiting for a copyright infringer in waiting.

IMHO this strengthens my earlier comment/arguement

most code is protected under trade secret rules, not copyright

In practice this is a non-issue. No production code ships as raw AI output. There's always architectural decisions, integration with existing systems, security reviews, debugging cycles, and business logic validation layered on top. Not to mention massive amounts of yelling and shouting at the AI to get it right. Each of those involves the kind of creative judgment courts have historically recognized as copyrightable contribution.

The more interesting question: will companies need to document human contribution to defend copyright claims? That might accidentally improve code review practices.

Indeed. Having a look at how Tono handle music copyright in Norway, there's this bit that I think is interesting - what if parts of your system is fully ai generated?

> When Either Music or Lyrics Are 100% AI-Generated

In cases where a work consists of both lyrics and music, and one of these is entirely AI-generated, you will not receive rights to that part of the work.

To obtain copyright in a musical work, you must contribute a creative, human input. Copyright arises automatically when a work is created and requires no form of registration. The right protects you and works created through your human creativity.

> Distinguishing Between AI-Assisted and AI-Generated

If you contribute human creative input that influences the final result, it is TONO’s position that artificial intelligence is used merely as a tool.

Be aware that you have no guarantee that an AI service will not generate the same or a very similar melody or lyric for others as well. If, in your creative process, you use or are inspired by AI-generated text or music, you are on safer ground the more you alter what the AI tool helped you with.

https://www.tono.no/en/faq-items/guidelines-for-the-rights-m...

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