this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2025
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askchapo
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IANAL, but to be pedantic, copyright mainly protects creative expression, not ideas, facts, systems, or methods of operation. So while someone can't copy your specific way of explaining a concept (the expression), they are generally free to use the underlying idea or information in their own work, as long as they don't replicate the original phrasing, structure, or other protectable elements.
By contrast, patents protect inventions; new and non-obvious processes, machines, manufactures, or compositions of matter. Where copyright arises automatically upon creation of a work, patents require a formal application and examination process. Patents offer stronger exclusivity (preventing others from even independently developing the same invention), but last much shorter (typically 20 years) compared to copyright, which lasts decades longer (often life of the author plus 70 years). In short: copyright covers how something is expressed; patents cover how something works or is invented.
So, you would also need to change the patent system to align with your proposal.
Yeah but I included invention since others are talking about it too. Same concepts anyway, protection of ideas, one for art one for physical.