Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick_Djinn
Books that are not patented do not require that royalties be paid. Anyone can downloand classics from before 1920 something for free and its not stealing, because they didnt have the same laws protecting authors back then. Also, I think there are limits to how long some patents last. Once a drug goes generic anyone can sell it. It might be the same with books, depending on where in the world you live.
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Nick, patents apply to inventions. Patents
do not apply to creative works, like books. These are protected by
copyrights.
There are other differences but the name, including that one must file for a patent, while any creative work is automatically protected by copyright, or that patents last not nearly as long - something like 20 years after a patent was filed, while copyrights run out on 70 years after the death of the creator in most countries.