...even when something is good
and true for written works, such as software or scientific texts, it
is not necessarily good and true for ideas about programming
techniques, pharmaceuticals, or plant varieties, or genes. Copyright
on software is not the same issue as copyright on scientific articles,
and neither of them is the same issue as patents.
The term "intellectual property", which lumps together copyrights and
patents leads people to limit consideration to simplistic
across-the-board approaches.
-- Richard Stallman
Mon, 22 Jul 2002 22:01:11 -0600 (MDT)
in reply to harnad@ecs.soton.ac.uk
september98-forum@amsci-forum.amsci.org
Subject: "Re: PostGutenberg Copyrights and Wrongs for Give-Away
Research"