Hi Starson17. Thanks for sharing your opinion on this, but could I ask for some clarification?
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And suppose someone claimed that the GPL did apply to a chunk of output by some strained GPL interpretation that the CSS, HTML or formatting was "code" covered under the GPL. Because the GPL only applies when the "code" is redistributed, all the user would have to do is reformat the content with their own formatting or remove the allegedly GPL code, (or get a license from the code copyright holder). AFAIK, there has never been a case where anyone has had to pay damages for past violation of the GPL, so simply removing the alleged GPL content would fix the problem.
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Yes, I understand that you can reformat or remove "alleged" GPL code, but what happens if you have already distributed the file? Isn't it "out there" and untouchable by any reformatting?
Additionally, does it go against the GPL for an end-user to intentionally remove program metadata? I.e. taking out the "OpenOffice.org" references in an OpenOffice.org PDF?
I know this thread is dealing with hypotheticals now, but it's been really interesting reading your responses and thank you all for taking the time to respond.