Tim Orford wrote: > just to be clear, i'm making an esoteric distinction between the > ownership of a copyright (which can be bought and sold), and the > ownership of the "expression of an idea" itself. I'm usually just a lurker, but I'm intrigued / interested enough to give this a try, from two aspects: First of all, I think trying to make a(n esoteric) distinction between copyright and the expression of an idea is the wrong thing to try -- I think maybe you intended to make a distinction between something that is copyrighted (which is an expression of an idea) and an idea. The expression of an idea can be copyrighted, the idea cannot. (However, the idea might be subject to patenting.) If you are trying to distinguish between a specific expression of an idea and the general right to express the same idea, the specific expression can be covered by copyright, but the general right to express the same idea in different words (for example) is not restricted by copyright. IANAL, and this represents my best understanding. regards, Randy Kramer
