[semi-extrinsic]

> And if it can't be copyrighted that means it is in the public domain from the instant it was created and can't be licensed.

I don't think this follows? If I vibe code something and never post it anywhere public, I can still license that code to a company and ask them to pay me for using the code?

So as a corollary, the business model of providing software where you can choose either free (as in beer) and restrictive license (e.g. GPL), or pay money and get a permissive business-compatible license, will cease to exist.

I think that's a shame actually, because it has been a good way of providing software that does something useful but where large companies that earn money from the use will have to pay the software creator.

[marcus_holmes]

If the code has been entirely a product of an LLM, you don't have copyright so you can't license it. Copyright is only applicable to human creativity, so you can only copyright the bit of the product that was created by a human. And all licensing derives from copyright.

There might be a path to this business model via Trade Secrets (you register your source code as a Trade Secret, and sell only binaries).

And, of course, you can still sell support as the paid-for service, which has worked for a lot of people.

[ketzu]

> I can still license that code to a company and ask them to pay me for using the code

I believe you can do that with public domain/copyright free material in general. There is no requirement to tell someone that the material you license them is also available under a different one or that your license is not enforceable.

[magicalist]

Depending on how you do it and they find out, you could certainly be sued for fraud and misrepresentation, though. And, if you put a "copyright by me" at the top of a public domain work, it's technically a crime under 17 U.S.C. § 506(c) - Fraudulent Copyright Notice

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/506#c