The output will still be dependent on the input. And it is still copying even if you first lift the input to a different abstraction level.
replyFinally, even if your rationale is 99% correct, then there is still that 1% that makes the result a mechanistic copy.
And I see no way in which most people would 100% agree with your view.
If you write program A that does something, and I look at what your program does and write program B that does the same thing, have I copied your program? So long as I didn’t copy any of the lines of code in program A directly, no. At least, not according to copyright law. A copyright on Netscape navigator doesn’t apply to internet explorer or chrome. They’re all “copies” of Netscape navigator. But copyright applies to the work. New work? New copyright. I really don’t see how an LLM being involved changes any of that.
replyIf you want to protect the idea or the design, get a patent. A patent on one h264 encoder applies to all h264 encoders.
There is a chance the courts or the legislature will decide differently. But until then, we should assume the existing law of the land holds.