Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the passage?
jordierose02on July 18, 2023
Answer choices breakdown.
Could this question be explained and all of the answers broken down?
Initially, I put D, but realized this is incorrect bc there is no direct support for this claim, as it says nothing about how to legally use copyrighted algorithms.
I then put B but I guess I misinterpreted the answer when reading this line "Whereas patents protect the underlying design of an invention, even if it is never actually executed, copyright protects only the particular way in which the underlying ideas are expressed".
Where is A supported? I see why generic scientific principles are not patentable, but why are they not able to qualify for copyright?
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Hi, while it's a little tough to explain wrong answers for this question types because, as you noted, there's just no direct support for them, let's take a look at B and D in more depth.
D looks tempting because this is something I suspect to be true in the real world, however, the passage doesn't support this.
B is exactly as you noted! The text you copied in shows that you can only patent a specific invention, and earlier, we are explicitly told that you cannot parent generic principles.
As for A, we are told that you cannot patent generic principles in the second half of paragraph two, where we learn that the underlying law of nature such as the fact that wind can turn a windmill is not eligible.
The fact that we can't copyright principles of nature is a bit trickier, but in the middle of the third paragraph we are told that copyright only protects the way that an underlying idea is expressed. This means that we are not able to copyright an underlying idea.
