I fully agree with what you say, with one bit of nuance to point out:
> Like if you go to the copyright office and try to register your ssh public key and say "this was generated by ssh-keygen i had nothing to do with it" you may get a different result than if you said "this is my new visually stunning masterpiece, my ssh public key, which was generated with computer help but I used 37 precisely timed keyboard smashes to do it. Prints are available from my gallery for $500"
The important thing, of course, isn't whether the copyright office denies to register your copyright, but instead what courts will ultimately do when you attempt to enforce your copyright.
We know the current administrative algorithms used by the copyright offices. We have less clarity on what courts will ultimately do.
> Like if you go to the copyright office and try to register your ssh public key and say "this was generated by ssh-keygen i had nothing to do with it" you may get a different result than if you said "this is my new visually stunning masterpiece, my ssh public key, which was generated with computer help but I used 37 precisely timed keyboard smashes to do it. Prints are available from my gallery for $500"
The important thing, of course, isn't whether the copyright office denies to register your copyright, but instead what courts will ultimately do when you attempt to enforce your copyright.
We know the current administrative algorithms used by the copyright offices. We have less clarity on what courts will ultimately do.