Bernd Paysan R.I.P Natenom 🕯️ on Nostr: Netlists nowadays are usually created by synthesizing VHLD or Verilog source code, ...

Netlists nowadays are usually created by synthesizing VHLD or Verilog source code, and that is similar to software (and when you compile it for an FPGA, it actually is software). As such, it is copyrightable.

The thing about creativity and functionality has been lost when software (which is functional) has gained copyright protection. Not the function as such, but the individual expression. And that protection survives compilation (otherwise, binaries wouldn't be protected).