Forum OpenACS Q&A: Response to ACS 4.6 Release

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Posted by Kjell Wooding on
Okay. IANAL, but some of these digital i-prop debates get me frothing...

Code, sure. Page flow, dubious. But data models? I have a hard time grasping how copyright can be extended to include thought processes. Even if someone did lay claim to the contents of a .sql file under a copyright, there is no underlying claim to the data model. Re-implement the same data model in a different way, (using a different "expression" of the idea) and no copyright violation has occurred.

Copyright is about expression. If you want to protect process and design, you have to patent. Can I copyright how an internal combusion engine works? No - but I can write a textbook about it, and protect that.

Thank you. Rant over.