Copyright infringement is a tort. “Illegal” is almost always used to refer to breaking of criminal law.
This seems like intentionally conflating them to imply that appropriating code for model training is a criminal offense, when, even in the most anti-AI, pro-IP view, it is plainly not.
> There are four essential elements to a charge of criminal copyright infringement. In order to sustain a conviction under section 506(a), the government must demonstrate: (1) that a valid copyright; (2) was infringed by the defendant; (3) willfully; and (4) for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain.
I think it’s very much an open debate if training a model on publicly available data counts as infringement or not.
I'm replying to your comment about infringement being a civil tort versus a crime, it can be both.
> “Illegal” is almost always used to refer to breaking of criminal law.
This is false, at least in general usage. It is very common to hear about civil offenses being referred to as illegal behavior.