#27 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[Katherinthesky]

I found this passage to be extremely tricky.

Can I please ask where is the support for half of (A)?
I can see the support for the part regarding generic scientific principles as not qualifying for patent protection - but I cannot find the support referring to said principles not qualifying for copyright protection, either.

Thanks in advance.

[Robert Carroll]

Katherinthesky,

The first sentence of the last paragraph provides the evidence you want. Issuing a patent for a "generic principle" would extend patents beyond copyright. Therefore, copyrights ALSO do not protect such a thing. Further, the rest of the last paragraph makes it clear that general scientific principles are not copyrightable because they are not a "particular way in which the underlying ideas are expressed."

Robert Carroll

[candleash]

Hi, I've also been struggling with this question.
I read the line "issuing patents... extend protection... beyond that afforded by copyright" as to mean that patent protection would provide way too more than what copyright already provides. I thought the next sentence further supported that idea ("Insofar..."), as I read that line to mean that software programs fall appropriately within copyright law, which since computer programs are being likened to scientific principles, thus means that principles DO qualify for copyright protection.

Since obviously A is right, could I get a breakdown of where I went wrong? Thank you!

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi candle,

The passage isn't saying that the general principles are protected under copyright, it's the expression of the the principles. Let me explain a bit using something other than computers.

DNA replication is not something that is protected under patent law, because it's just a general process that is done by the human body. However, a description of how DNA replication works would be protected under copyright. The expression of the idea is protected even if the process is not. A basic expression of a scientific rule would not be protected under copyright, as it isn't a unique expression. For example, "an object at rest stays at rest" can't be copyrighted because it's a principle, but a longer text explaining what that means would be protected under copyright.

It's the same idea here. The process of using algorithms to code software is too simplistic and basic to be protected. However, treating the code as an expression does provide protection. So let's say someone wanted to create a computer program to function as a word guessing game. You can't patent the game because the underlying process you used isn't unique. However, you can copyright the exact language you used to create the game, protecting some of your idea.

Hope that helps!

[impawsible]

Could someone please explain why D is wrong? Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

D is an incorrect answer, impawsible, because the passage provides no support for it. There is no discussion of "permission from the copyright holder" in the text. In addition, algorithms are described in the passage as generic principles that do not by themselves warrant any particular legal protection, so answer D is essentially an opposite answer, one that cannot be true rather than one that is strongly supported.

[rightway1566]

I understand Rachel's explanation if I logically isolate it, but am having a hard time finding the corresponding support for A in the passage. The only reference I found for a "general scientific principle" is the windmill example in paragraph 2, which is in the context of patents - a more stringent form of intellectual property rights. I also interpreted the first sentence of the third paragraph to support the idea that the IP protection for computer programs should go no further than what is afforded by copyright law.

I am just not finding the support for A in the passage. Can someone provide a supplemental explanation?

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi rightway,

We can pull support for answer choice (A) from a few places. First, midway through the second paragraph, it states that for a design to be patentable it must be innovative, not just a general law or axiom. Then in the third paragraph, we see that copyright protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Bringing those two concepts together, we can see the support for the idea that general principles are neither copyrightable nor patentable.

Generally speaking, we want to find support for an answer choice in MBT questions directly from the passage. However, even though the passage doesn't directly address whether general scientific ideas are copyrightable, we can infer that they are not because they are not an expression of an idea but are the underlying idea itself.

Hope that helps!

[mab9178]

Hi,

I read Robert's and Rachael's explanations as to where the textual support is for answer-choice A.

With Robert's explanation, respectfully, I disagree. In fact, the first sentence of the third paragraph, in a vacuum, casts doubt on A being the correct answer.

I liked Rachael's strategy that we need to pull statements from the passage together in order to infer answer-choice A, but, respectfully, I feel that there is a more pertinent line that yields to inferring A:

In the third paragraph, in the third sentence, the word "only" is germane to selecting answer-choice A:
"Whereas patents protect[...]copyright protects ONLY the particular way in which the underlying ideas are expressed.

Well If "copyrights protects ONLY the particular way in the which the underlying ideas are expressed," then it must follow that the "underlying ideas" themselves are not. But this implication begs the question: what do the "underlying ideas" refer to? Or, in the context of answer-choice A, are they the "general scientific principles"?

The latter question is answered in the affirmative. Equating the phrase "underlying ideas" with the phrase "general scientific principles" is evidenced is in the second half of the second paragraph.

My question is: Am I wrong to draw my inference from the quoted portions above? Did I misinterpret the word "only" in the third sentence from the third paragraph?

An expert guidance on understanding the language here is much needed and would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You
Respectfully,
Mazen