Algorithms don't need incentives to create: outputting is what they do if they're useful. So copyright is completely inappropriate The conclusion, that copyrig

Algorithms don't need incentives to create: outputting is what they do if they're useful. So copyright is completely inappropriate The conclusion, that copyright is inappriate, is correct -- you can't copyright facts. The atomic weight of helium, or my phone number, aren't copyrightable. However, the logic to get there is ridiculous. While algorithms don't need incentives, the people who create those algorithms do need incentives. And because the algorithms themselves are created by, um, creativity, in some cases their output may be copyrightable. See, for example, "algorithmic composition", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithmic_composition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithmic_composition The reason that WolframAlpha's output shouldn't be copyrighted is that it's pure facts, as contrasted to the output of algorithmic composition -- that music isn't factual, there's no "correct" answer to "compose me some music about X".