Be careful not to put copyright law and patent law under the same umbrella. For example, under copyright law there is no problem if you create a work, then aft

Be careful not to put copyright law and patent law under the same umbrella. For example, under copyright law there is no problem if you create a work, then after the event you learn that someone else previously produced an identical work. Under patent law, you're stuffed if you invent something then after the event find a patent that covers your invention, even if you knew nothing of that at the time of invention. In the Monsato case, the patent covers every instance of those genes, whether they came from Monsanto or not. Here's an article on the differences between copyright, patents and trademarks: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.en.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.en.html