🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec21.030635.15139@news2.cis.umn.edu> toddl@county.lmt.mn.org (Todd Lehman) writes:
>copyrights on things like the Mean Value Theorem.  And you wouldn't want
>Dr. Mandelbrot to own the copyright to the Mandelbrot set just because he
>discovered it.  So why should the "inventors" of Tetris be allowed to own
>the copyright to Tetris?  I don't see the reasoning there. 

A copyright on the Mean Value Theorem would set back all mathematical
and scientific efforts. A copyright on Tetris merely prevents you from
stealing the look of somebody's game. Unless you've got some terribly
important practical use in mind that justifies theft of the concept.
I sure can't think of one.

The Mean Value Theorem is of general use; so is the Mandelbrot set (though
if patents, not copyrights, were applied, this wouldn't be so horrendous,
as this grants the originator a few years of compensation - ie, they
get a chance to make some money off their discovery - before everybody
can rip them off).

Do you think people would invest the same amount of effort in "discovering"
(since you prefer the word) new games and going to the trouble to flesh
them out if they knew they'd just be ripped off?

You put the finger on it when you said it's the sort of game where "it's
obvious once you see it." So's incandescent light. I, for one, think
Edison was entitled to a decent share of profit before everybody duplicated
his "obvious" "discovery".

-T

-- 
Tom Boutell, boutell@cshl.org

Clausthaler is the best non - alcoholic beer in the known universe.