Why is a binary (compiled machine code) protected by copyright, but the raw outp...

andsoitis · 2025-01-31T06:55:21 1738306521

Courts have ruled that compilation does not remove originality—the binary is still a transformation of an original, copyrighted work (the source code).

realusername · 2025-01-31T07:02:56 1738306976

Because binaries are a transformation of the source code, which is written by a human.

Other kind of binaries which are fully generated by a machine like private keys aren't copyrightable.