[stale2002]

No, because the premise of the hypothetical is that the weights aren't protected by copyright.

So, no matter what they TOS says, it's not an infringing work.

> Downstream users can't just integrate the derivative work into a product without abiding by the GPL terms

You absolutely could do this if the original work is not protected by copyright, or if you use it in a way that is transformative and fair use.

[mattl]

Something under the GPL is also copyrighted. The GPL is a copyright license.

[asadotzler]

The GPL depends on copyright but it not itself copyright. The GPL is a license that gets its legal standing from copyright but if you don't have a copyright on something, slapping the GPL on top of it doesn't make it copyrighted to you.

[mattl]

Absolutely.

[stale2002]

If the underlying work is not protected by copyright, it doesn't matter what license someone tries to put on it.

Similarly, if someone creates a fair use/transformative work then the license can also be ignored.