The fact it is a piece of text is an implementation detail. It is intended for the user to treat as if it were a physical copy. Up until it is deleted/removed it is an equal peer to its master.
Very long and subtle thread !
I always work in project mode because I donāt want to let PL manage for me the destruction of pictures.
Though PL behavior has been improvedā¦
This will delete the Master(s) image and all associated Virtual Copies by moving the original images to the trash if possible. Otherwise they will be permanently deleted.