* Michael Stehmann: > my question is: How should Debian treats not human generated files. > > Starting point: > > An .orig.tar.[g|x]z contains files, which are not human generated. > > (I know that there is an discussion on debian-vote about a General > Resolution "Allow AI-Assisted Contributions". But the content of files > might also generated by (non AI) application (example: tools for > autoconfiguration).) > > My assumption is that content generated by machine is not human artwork > and not copyrightable.
If it's a mechanical transformation of source code, it should be built from source code when building the package. The source code and the build tools obviously have to be under a DFSG-compatible license. This means that the exact licensing conditions of the intermediate files is probably not that interesting from a DFSG compliance perspective. (I understand that it's not currently practical to run autoconf to regenerate all configure scripts at build time.) For other content that is potentially non-copyrightable in the U.S., it's still a good idea to have some DFSG-compatible license statement for it. This would help in juridisctions where the content is in fact copyrightable. The content creator or potential rights-holder should communicate clearly to what extent they plan to enforce (or not) copyright-adjacent rights they might have. For example, I consider this statement from the FSF not helpful at all: % This file is part of the GNU C Library and contains locale data. % The Free Software Foundation does not claim any copyright interest % in the locale data contained in this file. The foregoing does not % affect the license of the GNU C Library as a whole. It does not % exempt you from the conditions of the license if your use would % otherwise be governed by that license. The collection of locale data is likely a database (or database work? I can't remember which is which) and protected as such in the European Union. The statement also does not say if anyone else may have a copyright interest in the file.
