5 ms·
Anyone knows if the shape is copyrighted? Like Penrose's or Escher's are.
by rini17 3y ago
Anyone knows if the shape is copyrighted? Like Penrose's or Escher's are.
- azinman2 3y agohow can a shape have a copyright
- inetsee 3y agoIt's a sequence of coordinates for the vertices of the shape. Is that different from a sequence of words in a story or a book.
- starkparker 3y agocf. the threshold of originality[1]; the answer to that question is "it depends on the shape, legal precedent, and the laws where you live" 1: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Threshold_of_originality https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Threshold_of_orig...
- hgsgm 3y agoThere not true. Penrose tilings as a whole are generated randomly, with overall features determined only by the two simple tile shapes.
- Someone 3y agoLegally, it can be different. For example, a typeface is a sequence of coordinates for the vertices of the shape, but (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protection_of_typefaces#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protecti...): “Typefaces cannot be protected by copyright in the United States (Code of Federal Regulations, Ch 37, Sec. 202.1(e); Eltra Corp. v. Ringer), but fonts can be protected by design patent and may be protected by copyright.” As I understand things, if the USA legal system were to choose to apply the same rules to these tiles, their exact shape would be copyrightable, but variations on it wouldn’t, even if the variations, for all intents and purposes, are identical to the original.
- pavlov 3y agoCorporate logos are a widespread example of copyrighted shapes, usually defined as Bézier curves these days.
- cwillu 3y agoYou're conflating trademarks with copyrights; while there is some minor overlap, corporate logos are examples of trademarks, and applying copyright concepts will lead you to concluding that you can use an apple with a bite taken from it as your computer company's logo, as long as you don't use one derivative of that which apple uses. Which will entirely fail to hold water when apple sues you over it.
- User23 3y agoWhich is kind of funny, because Apple arguably stole the Apple trademark from Apple records and then proceeded to go into the music business contrary to their agreement. They even distributed a system beep sound called “sosumi.”
- jiriro 3y agoApple didn’t stole the Apple trademark from Apple Records. Until Apple entered the music industry (iTunes) there was no conflict. Apple (the computer company) used Apple trademark in the computer business. However when Apple did iTunes it had to settle the conflict with Apple Records. It was about 500 mil. USD [1]. [1] Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- pavlov 3y agoSolid point. The logo design files themselves are also under copyright though.
- GuB-42 3y agoTrademarks and copyright have entirely different purposes. Corporate logos are often both. A trademark is a brand, it identifies your work. Apple puts its logo on its computers to show that they made them. Because it is a registered trademark, you can't put the Apple logo on your own computers because it will mislead people into thinking they are Apple products. However, it doesn't prevent you from using the Apple logo in any other way. You can make artwork featuring the Apple logo if it is clear that Apple have nothing to do with it. If you keep your trademark registered and actually use it, it will never expire. Copyright is about protecting the work of the artist or the company that commissioned it. For example, making a nice logo is hard work and you want to be compensated for it, so you may want people who use it to pay you, that's what copyright is for. The Apple logo precise shape, colors, etc... are covered by copyright. It means that you can't reuse the art for any reason without permissions, so in that way, it is a stronger protection than a trademark. The idea of a bitten off apple is not covered by copyright however, copyright doesn't cover ideas, only actual work, so if it wasn't also a trademark, you could have put your own drawing of a bitten off apple on a computer you made. Copyright doesn't need to be registered and expires after about 100 years. The third category, also different, are patents. Patents protect inventions, I don't think it makes sense to patent a logo, but I can imagine a tiling shape being patented. Or more precisely, the practical application of such a shape. Patents need to be registered and meet certain criteria, they expire after 20 years.
- mensetmanusman 3y agoCopyright is a human invention to encourage research and development of art and tech. It isn't perfect, but we haven't found an alternative system that doesn't punish the first mover who takes on the risk.
- shrimp_emoji 3y agoBecause nothing was invented before copyright was.
- rhaway84773 3y agoPeople existed before we had proper sewage. Clearly sewage systems are not needed.
- masfuerte 3y agoThe Penrose tiling is (or was) patented.
- denton-scratch 3y agoAnd Penrose sued Kleenex for violation, and won. They had used the tiling to make a better tissue.
- burkaman 3y agoPlease take this as genuine friendly curiosity and not an attack - why do you care? Why is there so often a highly upvoted comment about copyright on HN posts, whether or not they have anything to do with intellectual property? Every Launch HN, every Show HN, and a huge number of random posts like this one have a comment like this one. Why is this topic so interesting for what seems to be a majority of HN users? For me it feels like going to a car forum and seeing a post in every thread asking how the car is insured. There's nothing wrong with being into insurance, but it's not the type of thing you expect to be discussed at length on a car site, you know?
- duncan-donuts 3y agoWell I could sell the first infinite piece puzzle if the shape isn’t copyrighted
- rocketbop 3y agoPerson ignorant here of copyright when it comes to mathematics. What do you need to do to copyright something? It doesn’t work the way art like music and writing does? Which is that copyright is automatic just by recording or writing something down in some way. The idea that a shape, even a very complex one, could be copyrightable is pretty wild to me.
- karmakaze 3y agoNot a copyright but Apple patented "rectangle with rounded corners"[0]. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2012/11/7/3614506/apple-patents-rectangle-with-rounded-corners https://www.theverge.com/2012/11/7/3614506/apple-patents-rec...
- Xorakios 3y agofor use on electronic devices designed for portable use over communication networks. even in 2012 sometimes articles wrote clickbait
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- aaron695 3y ago[dead]