Re: Retypesetting Mathematics now on GitHub

[Dave Kemper]

On 6/2/23, G. Branden Robinson <g.branden.robinson@gmail.com> wrote:
> If an equation is not copyrightable because it expresses a _fact_, then
> it seems to be that one can obtain copyright protection in _false_
> equations.  These would be analogous to the trap streets that map
> publishers place in their works.[1]
>
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street

That link points out that trap streets themselves are not
copyrightable.  They exist as a tool to detect copyright violations
(though aren't strictly necessary for that).  By analogy, then, a
false equation also wouldn't be copyrightable.

But I doubt it's that simple.  It seems to me that an original
equation that doesn't express any real-world phenomenon, if it's
sufficiently nontrivial, could meet the threshold for an original
work, and thus be copyrightable.  (IANAL.)

(A "false equation" could be one that incorrectly expresses a fact
(e.g., 2 = 3) or one that is mathematically valid but does not have
any known real-world application.  I'm not sure whether that
distinction would affect the copyrightability, again assuming the
equation is nontrivial enough to reasonably be said to express
originality.)