*BSD News Article 10710


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From: moore@cs.utk.edu (Keith Moore)
Newsgroups: alt.suit.att-bsdi,comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: George William Herbert's Challenge - Part 2 (opening arguments)
Date: 3 Feb 1993 02:01:23 GMT
Organization: Univ. of Tenn. Computer Science, Knoxville
Lines: 28
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <1kn91jINNn26@CS.UTK.EDU>
References: <106742@netnews.upenn.edu> <1993Jan27.215738.12384@igor.tamri.com> <1kbtpf$e9h@agate.berkeley.edu> <1993Feb3.002534.5637@igor.tamri.com>
Reply-To: moore@cs.utk.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: wilma.cs.utk.edu

I must have misunderstood you.  You quoted _Numerical recipies in C_ as 
follows:

> 	"Copyright does not protect ideas, but only the expression of those
> 	ideas in a particular form. In the case of a computer program, the
> 	ideas consist of the programs's methodology and algorithm, including
> 	the sequence of processes adopted by the programmer. The expression
> 	ideas is the program source code and it's derived object code.

....and then later stated...

> Sentence two accurately represents "ownership" under current case law,
> "methodology, algorithms, and sequence of processes". To translate the
> methodology, algorithms, and sequence of processes into any other form
> does not change the ownership.  This means between puesdo code, english,
> C, or any other languague - human or machine readable.

....but as I understand the first quotation, it appears to state that
copyright law *does not apply* to the ideas (consisting of
"methodology, algorithms, and sequence of processes" as described in
the first quotation) but only to the *expression* of those ideas (e.g.
the actual source code).

What am I missing?

--
Keith Moore / U.Tenn CS Dept / 107 Ayres Hall / Knoxville TN  37996-1301
Internet: moore@cs.utk.edu      BITNET: moore@utkvx