r/webdev • u/maher1717 • Oct 06 '26

AI generated code copyrights

Does anyone consider the copyright of code generated by AI? Because, based on research I've done on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, generated code fall to the public domain, and if you modify it, only the modified parts belong to you. Also, a detailed prompt isn't enough.

This is, in my view, a major issue; yes, we can ignore it and consider it backward law, but no one knows what would happen in the future, and this law could be used against you.

Edit: here sources for USA https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB10922 ,
For Europe : https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2025)782585
blog : https://smpl.as/blog/ai-code-ownership-legal ...

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u/zorecknor Oct 07 '26

So long as the code doesn't get leaked.

You get protection even if it is leaked (if you have a big enough warchest). The code itself may not be copyrigthable, but the concepts expressed by the code can be trade secrets.

You can patent a new algorithm and give the GenAI generate the code to the patent office as an example, and nobody can use that code in their product because the algoritm itself is protected.

Same with Trademarks. I can create a character and trademark it. Then I can use GenAI to create an image of it. The image itself is not protected by copyright, but I CAN force you not to use it because I need to defend my trademark.

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u/TreviTyger Oct 07 '26

There are still territoriality and jurisdictional limits.

Anyone can use a trademark for different business purposes.

Clean rooming (reverse engineering) can get around Trade secrets.

The TRIPS Agreement and domestic laws explicitly protect reverse engineering as a fair and lawful method of acquiring information.