In this thread, a merry discussion of the copyright status of a book takes place. Meanwhile, in this thread, SkyBurn draws our attention to a mathematical site of great beauty, Complexification.net.
I now have a copyright question of my own. The Complexification.net website has examples of programs that generate beautiful patterns right in one’s browser. Each pattern is unique and generated as I watch. Source code for the programs is also provided.
Can I take a copy of one of the resulting patterns and use it in my artwork?
If the output is based on an algorithm, and the algorithm is not patented, than certainly that portion of the output can be used wherever.
Disclaimer: IANAL
Unless there is some warning about it on the web page (and I’d be skeptical that sort of warning could be enforced), you should be free to use the drawings however you wish. You were the one who created them (true, the algorithm helped, but I assume you did something to start the process) and you should be considered the creator. The web page would have no more right to copyright than the manufacturer of the software you use to write a novel.