[conspire] Patents & copyrights, ideas & expressions

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Ross Bernheim (rossbernheim at gmail.com):

> Having spent a number of years with schematics, I can attest to the fact that they
> are an expression of creativity just as a map or book are. 

Yes, but please see my response to Nick.  When a court applies concepts
like 'expressive element' and 'subtantial similarity' to a technical
body of law like copyright law, you assume your intuition applies at
your peril, and the best and most reliable way to understand how it
works is to read relevant caselaw.

I have most of the key decisions for USA copyright law concerning
_software_ linked from http://linuxmafia.com/kb/Licensing_and_Law/  --
including the aforementioned Computer Associates International, Inc. v.
Altai, Inc. case.  (To correct what I said to Nick, it wasn't the USSC
but rather the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in
NYC, but is respected as precedent everywhere else, too.)  If interested
in the subject, you should read some of that caselaw.

-- 
Cheers,                              Arrq uryc qrpelcgvat EBG13?  Nfx zr ubj!
Rick Moen                      
rick at linuxmafia.com
McQ! (4x80)